


Rebirth

by Infinite_Vibrance (gindokiis)



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, College, F/M, M/M, Soulmates, idk i just wanted soulmates in college with togas okay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-16
Updated: 2015-01-12
Packaged: 2018-03-01 17:02:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2780882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gindokiis/pseuds/Infinite_Vibrance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naruto doesn't understand why he's so attracted to Sasuke. It's definitely not because of his sparkling personality or his positive outlook on life. Hell, Naruto's supposed to hate Sasuke for taking Sakura away from him. But you normally don't dream about having really hot, passionate, sweaty sex in flower fields with the person you hate, right...? Right. Yeah. Sure. Okay, that sounds legit... <i>not.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chasing Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> “According to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves.”  
> \--Plato, The Symposium

His throat became raw from all the harsh screams being torn out of his throat as his body was pounded into the mattress. Nails dug into his hipbones as his ass was brutally devoured. Yet the pain felt _so good_. He craved it. The pain made him feel _alive._ His nails dug into the shoulders above him, and his mouth fell slacken in pleasure as he felt his finish approaching.

“Ah, ah _yes_. Yes there. Harder, _harder_ dammit!”

A chuckle was heard from above. Followed by the pressing of a sweaty forehead. Red orbs stared into blue, dilated by desire. Soft words that the blond could barely capture were whispered into his heated skin.

He craned his ear and begged through raw, abused lips for a repeat. He begged to hear those words again. Pleaded through the thrusts and snaps of hips to hear those words uttered into existence like stardust and the heavens. 

Only when he opened his eyes again all he saw was the ceiling light. His hands reached out for empty air and unwelcoming darkness. He felt cold. He felt… _cheated._

Then he felt something warm and wet. Without even looking downwards, Naruto Uzumaki for the fifth time this week, threw his arm over his face and said, “Fuck me.”

 

*** 

 

“You look like death.”

Naruto looked up from his lukewarm coffee and scowled. “Thanks, Gaara. You’re really helping out my self-esteem.”

“That’s my job,” Gaara smirked as he set his food down at the circular table. “Also I find a sick pleasure in calling you out on these things.” 

“There’s a word for that you know. It’s called being a _motherfucking sadist._ ”

“Or a good friend. Seriously though,” Gaara pulled apart his chopsticks, said a quick prayer, then dug into his meal, “you look terrible. Rough night?” 

Naruto dropped his head to the table, releasing a groan. “Couldn’t sleep a damn wink. I swear I’m developing insomnia.” Or at the very least, going insane. Every night for the past two weeks Naruto has been waking up in a cold sweat with stained underwear and an ache in his heart that refused to go away. He couldn’t understand it—the same dream over and over again where he’s obviously fucking _someone_ but he can’t make out _who_ or _what_?

Gaara took a bite of his meal then placed down his chopsticks by his bowl. He reached out and ran his fingers through Naruto’s hair. “I’d say it’s more stress related than you being an insomniac. Especially considering you still don’t know where you stand with Sakura.”

“Don’t psychoanalyze me.”

“I’m a Psych major,” Gaara smirked. “I psychoanalyze on autopilot. Also, this is the only conclusion I can come to since you haven’t told me exactly what about your dreams is bothering you.”

Besides the fact that he feels like crying every time he wakes up but he doesn’t know why? Or, because, he’s 90% certain that instead of being the one fucking, he’s the one being _fucked_? Or, hey here’s another one, that every single second of the dream seems so real that when he wakes up he’s so confused and disorientated he has no idea who or what he is anymore?

“It’s embarrassing,” Naruto finally relented, muttering into the table.

“What’s embarrassing?”

Naruto’s head perked up as Sakura and Ino came by their table. Naruto felt his heart swelling to the point of bursting within his chest. Good Lord, being that _gorgeous_ should be a crime. Sure, all Sakura was wearing was a pair of jeans, leather boots, and a sweater but she made it look so perfect.

“Naruto’s insomnia.” Gaara explained as Sakura and Ino took their seats.

Sakura frowned, “I thought you said you were getting better.”

“I am!” Or at least he thought he was. Then last night happened and all things went to shit. “It’s just… random—the dreams, I mean.”

 “Maybe you should cut back on your late night snacking,” Ino wagged her plastic spoon Naruto’s way. “Seriously, making a shit ton of ramen at three in the morning is _not_ healthy.”

“In my defense I’m a poor college student who can’t cook for shit.” 

Sakura clucked her tongue and shook her head. “You could always teach yourself how to cook.”

Naruto snorted before slipping his arm around Sakura’s shoulders. He leaned forward and nuzzled his nose into her cheek. “Why should I when I have you?”

She scoffed, pushing Naruto away. “That sounds very much like the patriarchy talking.”

“Okay, Sakura. Just because you’re taking a class on Gender in Society doesn’t mean everything’s about the fucking patriarchy!”

Once again, Sakura and Naruto fell into their routine argument. Naruto said something stupid. Sakura popped a blood vessel. Naruto almost received a bloody nose. Ino took a Vine and Gaara watched it all in slight amusement.

“And to think I actually gave a damn about your insomnia. I take it back, you _prick_.”

“Aw, come on, babe! It was just a joke!”

“Don’t call me ‘babe’.”

“Sakura then. Fine, jeez. I just…” Naruto fixed her with his best pout and puppy dog eyes. “We haven’t seen each other in a week and I… miss ya, you know? In my arms, in bed… with me.”

His sincerity seemed to have some effect, as Sakura’s guard visibly lessened. Her shoulders relaxed and her face became much more at ease. “I’ve been… busy.”

The blond’s frowned deepened. He walked his fingers across the table step by step to intertwine them with Sakura’s, but she moved them away at the last second. Recently, since the dreams started, Naruto’s started to notice the distance between him and Sakura.

They were best friends since high school. Went to the same college and then one drunken night, they both decided to find solace within each other. Since then, when they needed one another, Sakura would come over to his apartment and they’d end up buried under blankets, escaping from their problems in their throws of passion.

But it was _hard_ because Naruto had fallen so damn hard for Sakura. Ever since the first day of high school when Sakura had introduced herself to the class and proudly boasted about her black belt in Taekwondo. She was the type of girl who didn’t take shit from anyone. She was strong and outgoing and intelligent. Sakura, to Naruto, was perfection in a bottle and for a while he thought that the bottle was in his grasp. All he had to do was unscrew the cork and let it flow.

Now he wasn’t all that sure. Maybe Gaara had a point. Maybe these weird dreams and restless nights were the spawn of stress of not knowing whether or not Sakura felt the same way he did.

Conversation picked up a few seconds later once Ino started talking about fashion. A safe topic that got Sakura looking like her old self again. The girls gushed over the latest fall trends while Gaara shot out a quick text and then discreetly motioned to Naruto.

Naruto cocked an eyebrow and slightly pulled his phone out of his pocket.

_Gaara: You okay?_

_Naruto: Yea man._

_Gaara: Are you lying?_

Probably, but Naruto didn’t have a chance to respond when a loud scream ripped its way out of Ino’s throat.

“Oh my God! Sakura, I forgot to tell you! The new guy is in my Econ class!”

Sakura screeched. “No way! I knew I shouldn’t have dropped that class for Organic Chem.”

Gaara shot Naruto a look that said: _Do you know what’s going on?_

 _Fuck if I know,_ Naruto responded back telepathically, of course because he and Gaara were so on that level.

The girls were going back and forth about this new guy that arrived on campus about two weeks ago. Apparently he was a hot topic around campus, as all the girls regardless of their year wanted a piece of him. Naruto puffed out his cheeks in distaste, feeling the deep burn of jealousy run through his belly as Sakura spoke animatedly about her newfound interest.

“ _I_ heard he comes from a really rich family. I’m talking _old money._ Man, what I’d do to nab myself a hot, rich guy.”

“Oi!” Naruto slammed his fists on the table. “Can you not? I’m sitting right here.”

“Oh don’t get your panties in a bunch, Naruto.” Ino gave Naruto a haughty grin. “You have your good points too—probably,” she muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, nothing at all—Shit! Sakura, look at your 6 o’clock.” Ino grabbed Sakura by the shoulders and turned her towards the cafeteria doors. Naruto looked too, wondering what all the commotion over this newcomer was all about.

Chatter disappeared out of existence when _he_ walked in. Tall, dressed in dark jeans, a black shirt, combat boots, and emitting a whole lot of swagger, this guy obviously knew he was the shit. He took a few steps inside and brushed back his bangs from his face. His eyes gazed across the cafeteria until they stopped dead center on Naruto.

In that moment, Naruto felt like someone had punched him in the gut. The world around him blurred into darkness and all he saw was _him._ Him, who had those stupid onyx eyes and a stupid haircut and really tight fitting jeans. His skin was on fire. His bones rattled. Naruto’s head swam and his vision got all blurry.

He had the urge to run up to this man and kiss him. And he had no idea _why._

After what seemed like an eternity, the raven finally smirked. The darkness broke from all around him and Naruto felt like he could actually breathe.

“Naruto! Naruto!” Sakura slapped him across the face.

A harsh burn ran up the side of Naruto’s face where he was slapped. “Ow! Fuck!” He grasped his throbbing cheek and glared. “What was that for?”

“You spaced out for a whole five minutes!” Sakura shook her head and got up from the table. “Come on, you’re going home and going to bed.”

“Oi!” Naruto didn’t have the chance to protest because Sakura was already dragging him out of the cafeteria. A blush took over his face as Sakura went on a rant about how poorly Naruto was taking care of himself. He found himself smiling, bigger and bigger, even if Sakura was tearing him a new one.

“Thanks, Sakura. For caring and stuff.”

Sakura looked over her shoulder, smiling softly. “Don’t worry about it. You can think about returning the favor later when you’re not passing out.”

On his way out he caught a glimpse of the new student staring at him from the cafeteria doors. The raven’s gaze was piercing, a frown on his face. Naruto looked away to Sakura, then back to the doors only to come up empty—the new kid was gone.

' _Tch, what a weirdo.’_

 

***

 

“Every time I come to your apartment it gets messier and messier.” Sakura picked up a greasy paper plate still holding onto some pizza crusts. Her face crumpled up in disgust as she threw it out. “It’s not that hard to clean up every once in a while, you know.”

“Been busy,” Naruto muttered into the cushion of his couch. He refused to go upstairs and lie in his own bed. When Sakura asked him why he simply answered back that he was lazy. That wasn’t the case. His bed made the loneliness in his chest overwhelmingly larger. It was enough to swallow him whole. Sakura hadn’t been spending as many nights over as she used to anymore. And those damn dreams had been fucking him up in more ways than he’d like to admit.

He rolled onto his side, watching Sakura go to work on his apartment. A small smile pulled across his lips as he studied her movements to memory. The way she floated around the room as if she commanded the space before her feet. The way she would talk to herself, subtle and quiet yet loud enough for Naruto to hear all the little comments she made about his space. How dirty it was. How there was no possible way that he could be functioning properly all by himself. It was sweet, in a way, and watching her brought a tiny smile to his face that he didn’t dare to hide.

Sakura looked over her shoulder and caught Naruto’s smile. She smiled back softly and playfully threw one of his socks at his face. “If you’re feeling well enough to smile maybe you’ll clean up a bit, yeah?”

“I can’t help but smile when I look at you,” Naruto responded truthfully. He saw her smile falter and decided to try again. “I can’t help but feel _happy_ around you.”

“Naruto—”

“—No hear me out,” he sat up a bit, putting his weight on his forearms. He reached out with his other hand, watching the hesitancy flash on Sakura’s face. “This thing we have, our ‘Friends with Benefits’ deal. I… I don’t want to do it anymore. I want us to be a real thing—you and me: boyfriend and girlfriend.” He swallowed, his voice shaking. He paused, gauging her reaction. When he got nothing in return he continued. “You’re important to me, Sakura. I’ve been in love with you since freshman year.”

“No you haven’t.”

The words came quick. They were whispered but dealt a deadly blow. Naruto’s eyes widened as Sakura slowly curled into herself.

“What we have Naruto—you know it’s not love.” She took a stutter filled breath. “I know that it’s not love either. Please don’t fool yourself. We found comfort in each other, that’s all. So… so don’t say that.” She shook her head and walked over to where Naruto was laying on the couch. She bent down, their noses almost touching. She reached out and wiped away a few stray bangs. “Don’t worry about you and me, worry about getting some rest okay?”

Sakura stood up, effectively putting enough distance between herself and Naruto. Naruto looked at his outstretched hand that once again grasped nothing but empty air. A dull throb resounded in his chest as he put his hand down. When Sakura went back to cleaning Naruto didn’t bother to watch her. He turned over until he was facing the couch and closed his eyes, pretending that he still couldn’t sense her moving around the room.

 

***

“So it’s over?" 

“I don’t know. She hasn’t been over in two weeks. Haven’t seen her for even longer.” Naruto buried his head on Gaara’s shoulder, exhaling loudly. The past couple of weeks have been an utter shit show. Sakura had been outright avoiding all his calls and attempts at conversation.

Gaara let out a sigh, light green eyes gazing filled with barely hidden empathy as they looked upon his saddened friend. It was a rarity to see Naruto so down in the dumps. Normally he was such a big ball of energy. He was always smiling and never talked at a volume that was any quieter than a yell.

Naruto felt Gaara’s grip on his shoulder tighten. A nose pressed itself to his hair, and soft whispers of encouragement fell onto his lips. Naruto curled in closer, selfishly soaking up the warmth Gaara provided.

“I really loved her, man.” Naruto mumbled weakly. 

Gaara only nodded. He was going to let Naruto do all the talking, choosing to simply sit back and listen. Gaara glanced up for a split second, eyes catching on a familiar pink-haired woman chatting it up with the new guy. He inhaled sharply, unconsciously tightening the grip of his fingers on Naruto’s shoulder.

“What?” Naruto glanced up, eyes slowly trailing over to where Gaara’s gaze was.

Gaara quickly covered Naruto’s eyes with his hands. “It’s nothing. I just realized I forgot to call my sister. She’ll tear off my head—it’s the third time this week.”

“Oh… Okay. Hey! Then get your hands off me, Gaara! I can’t see.”

“I know,” _that’s the point_ , Gaara thought as he watched the interaction unfold.

After a bit of struggling Naruto finally managed to rip Gaara’s hand over his face. Only, now he wished he hadn’t. Blue eyes slowly grew to the size of the moon as he saw that Gaara had so desperately tried to hide. Sakura was with the new kid—laughing, smiling, and _blushing._ It looked like she was having a hell of a good time. The new kid, too, standing over there smiling and probably saying the good shit that made her do all those things.

Naruto felt his blood boil. Gaara was saying something to him. Probably to calm down, to think rationally, to not get in over his head, but he couldn’t hear over the harsh buzz that danced around in his ears. Before he knew it, Naruto was stomping over after Sakura had said her goodbye. The new kid was standing there, one hand in his pocket and the other messing around with his phone. 

He stopped in his tracks when the new kid glanced up and their eyes met. Blue clashed with onyx and Naruto found that his feet were glued to the floor. _Move, dammit_ , Naruto thought. _Don’t you dare be intimidating by him!_

“Hey!” Naruto called out, pointing an accusatory finger the raven’s way. “You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve!”

Naruto felt his resolve lessen a bit at the cold, despondent response he got back. The raven’s gaze was _intense_. Naruto felt the strength almost leave his body in waves. He stayed grounded, eyes narrowed as he tried to beat the new kid in will power alone.

Then the new kid just scoffed _, scoffed_ , and started to walk away.

“Hey!” Naruto tried again, this time running after the new kid. “Come back here, bastard! How dare you flirt with _my_ girl, huh?!" 

The raven paused in his steps, glancing over his shoulder. He smirked, “She flirts a lot for being a taken girl. You should probably talk to her about that.”

He turned his head and started to walk again, leaving a fuming Naruto in his wake.

A vein popped. A nerve snapped. And somewhere a volcano was erupting and spewing out lava to wipe out an entire village. Naruto balled up his hands into fists, crossing the final steps between him and the new kid so he could give him _‘something to talk about_ ’. 

“Why you—” Naruto reached out and grabbed the other’s wrist. The pain that came afterwards was excruciating.

It was like someone had come up and whacked him from behind while punching him in the gut at the same time. Naruto was bombarded with a searing heat and a bone numbing cold all at once. Flashes of images swept through his mind at a blurring speed. He released the new kid’s wrist, hand coming to grip his head.

The new kid frowned, taking a step, but Naruto waved his hand. “Don’t… Don’t you _dare_ come near me!” He yelled, stumbling a bit as he bumped into Gaara’s chest.

“What happened?” Gaara asked, frowning at how pale Naruto looked. 

“I… I don’t know.” He glanced back only to find an empty space where the new kid was. He scowled, a flash of pain dancing through his head. “I just… _touched_ him and I…” He was at a loss for words. It definitely wasn’t normal to almost black out just from touching someone… right?

 _Right_?

Gaara shook his head and wrapped his arm around Naruto’s shoulder. He decided it was best to take Naruto home for the day. Get him some medicine from the convenience store down the street and make sure he didn’t pass out again. Naruto nodded, too tired to put up a fight or to even bother lying that he felt okay. His head was pounding and his steps were shaky as they walked out of the Student Union building on campus.

“Do you know his name?” Naruto whispered. They were only a few blocks away from his apartment now. 

“Do you really need to know?" 

“Yes.”

Gaara sighed, weighing the pros and cons before he decided to just fuck it. “Ino told me his name’s Sasuke Uchiha.”

 _Sasuke Uchiha_. Sasuke _motherfucking_ Uchiha. There was something about that name that shook Naruto’s bones and riled up his blood more than anyone he had ever accounted. He was still lightheaded from the touch, still a little woozy, and when he closed his eyes he saw Sasuke with that damned smirk on his face but not in this place. Not in this time, and definitely not out of spite or malice.

Naruto shook his head—well, as much as he could without feeling nauseous—and swore that Sasuke Uchiha would be his enemy for all eternity.

“He’s going to regret it, Gaara,” Naruto hissed, fingernails digging into the palms of his hands. “He’s gonna _regret_ the day he fucking messed with Naruto Uzumaki.”

 


	2. Skewed Lines

This time they're sitting in a field of golden flowers. The sky above them was dotted with constellations while the heavens ripped apart to show off their ethereal splendor. He sat in the other's embrace, arms wrapped around his shoulders and kisses pressed against his neck.

He smelled like war and there's blood coating his shirt—but he assured him that it wasn't his. As if that alone would be enough to put the blond's heart at ease.

"I worry for you," the blond whispered. He sucked a sharp breath as teeth teased the skin at the juncture where neck met collarbone. It was his weak spot—one of many—and his lover had no qualms abusing it.

The arms around his shoulders tightened, the voice by his ear chuckling softly. "You're constantly worrying but I always return, don't I?"

"What if you don't?" He's seen the scars that adorn his lover's porcelain skin. Seen the lost look that overcomes his lover's gaze whenever the two sit down for dinner. His eyes become haunted, a ghost returning to the battlefield where friends were slain and enemies were conquered.

He's trying, he truly is, to be strong and to keep hope. But it's  _hard_ because one day it might be  _his_ lover added to the memorial of fallen warriors who gave their lives to fight for the gods.

He doesn't realize it, but there are tears streaming down his face—silently, releasing all his fears and worries in every drop.

His lover turned him around, their foreheads touching. Their lips touched and at first it was a slow, comforting process. Then it became desperate. Fingers tugged and ran themselves through locks of hair, and the blond found himself on the ground with his lover above him, ravaging his mouth, reminding him that he was here. That he was  _alive_ , and that nothing would ever change that.

They broke apart, a thin trail of saliva connecting their lips. The blond's cheeks were flushed and his lips were red and raw from their kissing. His lover smiled, a tiny one that was only reserved for him, and brushed back a few locks of blond hair from his eyes.

"Believe in me when I say this: I will  _always_ return to you. No matter how much the odds are stacked against me, against us, I will always come back to your side."

Words escaped him. Left him alone to suffer the breathless assault his lover's words brought on. The blond broke out into a huge, silly grin, and he pulled the raven down for another kiss as hands slid up his shirt to tease and play with skin.

"I love you." The blond whispered into the raven's ear. "I love you so much—"

Blue eyes snapped open to darkness and the sound of an infomercial selling a new state of the art waffle maker in the background. Naruto felt wetness on his cheek and he was surprised that when he touched it he felt actual tears. Real,  _damn_ , tears.

"What the fuck is happening to me?" He threw an arm over his face, trying to concentrate on his breathing as he picked apart the latest shit show his mind wanted to throw at him.

Since the encounter with  _Sasuke Uchiha_ , the dreams had started to become more frequent—more intense. Granted, Naruto still couldn't get a good glimpse of the person who kept touching him and kissing him and… you know…  _fucking_ him. Sometimes he caught a glimmer of a scar that ran up his left side. Or eyes that could never decided whether they wanted to be fucking red or onyx.

At least the places where they were together were a lot clearer. Sometimes they were in a cottage house or on the beach and one time they were on top of the Eiffel tower but that dream barely lasted a few minutes.

This was the first time he woke up crying from a dream, though. Normally there was a deep ache in his chest that didn't go away no matter how many times Naruto rubbed at it. It was maddening how  _real_ they were starting to feel. Almost as if Naruto, given the option, chose to never wake up he would simply slip into the world his subconscious was torturing him with and stay there for all eternity.

Naruto turned onto his side, the TV still running. His blanket had fallen to the floor so he reached down and brought it back over his body. He felt cold, and lonely, which was why he had resorted to sleeping on the couch for the past couple of days. His bed was too big, and he reasoned that sleeping on something with much less space to move around would get rid of the loneliness welling up in his chest.

But it wasn't doing a damn thing.

He was still getting those dreams and they were still bugging the hell out of him. "This is insane. This is fucking  _insane_ ," he muttered, rubbing at his eyes. "Why does this keep happening to me? And why the hell am I always the bottom?!"

Considering Naruto had spent the past 18 years assuming he was  _straight_ , having dreams where someone's fucking you until you're screaming was really disconcerting. Maybe Ino was right. Maybe it was the late night ramen breaks he took to quench his hunger. Or maybe Gaara had a point. The stress over Sakura more or less banning him in the friend zone for eternity was getting to him.

He still couldn't believe he lost to Sasuke Uchiha. Wait no,  _Sasuke Uchiha_ —always stressed to show Naruto's utter hatred for the new kid that just popped out of nowhere and stole all of Sakura's attention. Naruto's mind played out the scene that happened a few days ago, the laughter, the smiles, the blushes, the tiny touches Sakura passed off to Sasuke who took it all with a smile that looked so  _fake_. Naruto wanted to stomp right up to him and punch off that stupid face.

And then kiss it—

"No!" Naruto yelled, smacking himself on the forehead several times. "I do not want to kiss him. Why the hell would I want to kiss him? Unless it's with my fist to his face!"

He rolled onto his stomach, face buried into his pillow as he kicked the couch in frustration. This was happening a lot too. Sometimes he would think of Sasuke and wonder what his lips would taste like or how his hands would feel and it was fucking weird because he met this kid a few days ago. And he  _fucking hated his guts._ So he shouldn't be fantasizing about him.

Because it's weird as fuck.

And he's still in love with Sakura. His heart still hurts thinking about her. Wondering what he could have done better to keep her around. Hell, what did that Sasuke punk have that Naruto didn't? Tight pants—that's it.

Finally Naruto reached for his phone that was sitting on the coffee table. The time read 6:00 am. He had a class in two hours.

"I could just skip," he mumbled, but then what? He'd be stuck in this apartment looking around at the empty space where his mind would fill in the spaces with Sakura's image. Naruto could only handle so much of it.

Going back to sleep would be pointless too, since he'd have those dreams again. Muttering under his breath, Naruto slowly sat up and pressed Gaara's number on speed dial. His friend answered on the second ring.

"Yeah?" Gaara answered.

"How fast can you come over? I need some coffee and you make it the best."

There was a short pause, followed by some rustling in the background. A few seconds later Gaara said, "Give me ten minutes."

"I might fall back asleep by then."

"Doubt it," Gaara snorted before the line went dead.

Naruto scowled at the phone, hating how well Gaara knew him. "Guess I should get changed then." He pulled at his shirt and gave it a sniff. His face scrunched up in disgust. "And a shower. Definitely need a shower."

A nice, quick shower was definitely what Naruto needed to get his head back into the game. As everyone and their mother knew the shower was the best place to get out all one's innermost frustrations and problems.

/

 

Holy shit, who was the genius who made these tables so cozy? Okay yeah, they were cold against Naruto's cheek and he had pillows back home that were ten times better, but right now he was running on four hours of sleep—barely. The coffee Gaara had made for him, filled with a shit ton of sugar, milk, vanilla, and hazelnut, had worked for his first class.

Now he was crashing so hard during Kakashi's lesson on Greek myths. He was talking about how it was a common joke that 99.9% of the problems that occurred in Greek mythology could have been avoided if Zeus had just kept his dick in his pants. Naruto wasn't really paying all that much attention. Oh no, he was too busy glaring at the back of  _Sasuke Uchiha's_ stupid, duck fluffed head.

' _Who the hell takes that much time to style their hair like that? It's fucking stupid, that's what it is. I wanna run my fingers through it—to fuck it up! Right, yeah, to mess it up…'_

Ugh, he was too tired for this whole 'doesn't know what the fuck he's saying'. And, as mentioned, the table was really nice… maybe if he closed his eyes for a few seconds…

Naruto's eyes slid shut and the next time he opened them class was out. Almost everyone had left for either their next classes or to chill out back in their respective dorms. Naruto swore under his breath as he quickly gathered up his stuff. Well shit, if there was a quiz on Greek myths he'd probably be screwed—royally.

He was just about to pack up his notebook when he saw a red tab sticking out from the top. Confused, Naruto slowly opened the notebook to find all the notes for today's class scrawled on the inside in neat, flowing penmanship.

"What the fuck…?" Did he write this in his sleep? Yeah, that had to be it. No one else was sitting next to him, and surely there was no one in this class who gave a damn to do him a solid. "Naruto Uzumaki you're a genius! Writing in your sleep—oh man, they should give me my diploma today."

He was going to brush it off as pure luck. Maybe someone wore their nice underwear today and decided to spread the joy of kickass undergarments by writing down Naruto's notes. He surely wasn't going to complain.

/

 

"So you wrote down your notes… in your sleep…"

"Yup. I didn't believe it at first either, but I'm running on four hours of sleep so it makes total sense!"

"Oh. I get it. You're losing your mind. Knew it was gonna happen eventually."

Naruto scowled at Kiba's poor attempt at a joke. The two of them were on the college's soccer team. Naruto hadn't played since his junior year of high school but Kiba, who he had met this year at college, had convinced him to try out since the team was short on members.

Though Naruto would have substituted 'convinced' with 'harassed until he finally gave in' since the two were pretty synonymous.

Now they were stretching before practice today. Coach had warned the team that they'd be focusing on conditioning so they all better be limber—he wasn't about to take any pity on people with pulled hamstrings since those could easily be avoided.

"Dude, I'm telling ya," Kiba continued, bending down to touch his toes. "Someone had to have done it for ya. Maybe a girl who has the hots for ya!"

Naruto rolled his eyes, stretching his quads. "Doubt it. All the girls in my class can't stop drooling over  _Sasuke Uchiha_. Literally, every five minutes I hear one of them go 'Sasuke do you wanna study later after class?', 'Sasuke, wanna get some coffee with me?', 'Sasuke will you be my baby's daddy?'."

Kiba snorted, "Did they really say the last one?"

"They did! It's fucking weird, man!"

"Fucking weird indeed. Man," Kiba shook his head, picking up a soccer ball and dropping it onto his knees. He started to juggle as he said, "I don't see what the girls are getting all worked up about? People are even saying that Sakura left you for him."

"What?!" Naruto nearly fell over from the shock. "People—I mean, wait, Sakura didn't  _leave me_."

Kiba rolled his eyes and dropped the ball to his feet so he could pass it to Naruto. "That's not what I've been hearing. Rumor has it, Sakura saw him at a party a few weeks ago and  _bam_. The deal was sealed."

A new wave of anger washed through him, enough that when Naruto went to give Kiba a pass, it was more like a shot. Fucking hell, what had he done wrong? He did his best to give her the world. Took her shopping whenever he had the time and money saved, memorized all her favorite movies, her coffee orders, her favorite clothing brands, even the fucking perfume she wore all the time that made her smell like Japanese cherry blossoms.

Wasn't that enough? Knowing her in a way only someone intimate could do? Why wasn't it enough to keep her around?

Before Naruto could go any deeper on his thoughts, a soccer ball slammed into the back of his head.

"What the hell was that for?" Naruto whirled around, ready to chew out the ass who kicked at him, when he found their captain glaring holes at the both of them.

"Didn't you hear the whistle? Practice is starting—hurry up and start running!" Their captain jogged off to join the rest of the team. Naruto and Kiba exchanged looks that clearly said conditioning was the last thing they wanted to do.

Kiba sighed, "Let's get this over with." He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and smiled. "And if it's any consolation, I'm sorry about what happened. Shit's shit, though, right?" He ran off to join the other players, leaving Naruto there by himself.

"Yeah… right," he muttered before he kicked into a jog. Maybe conditioning was what he needed after all. A physical burning that could erase the emotional burning going on in his heart right now.

/

 

Naruto got out of the shower, ruffling his hair with the towel. He washed off today's disappointment and soccer practice off his skin. Naruto walked around his coffee table and plopped down onto the couch. He looked at his phone, staring at it for what seemed to be an eternity.

He did that a lot now. Just… stared at his phone and wandered and hoped when Sakura would text  _him_ first. His mind flashed back to all the times he would throw the first bite. His text messages were full of excitement, emojis, the sorts. While Sakura's responses were always short and to the point. It was like she was sending him knives that embedded themselves into his hands.

After a while he didn't try at all. He wanted to see if she would make the first step, you know? Then it would give him hope that things weren't really over again. Yet as he looked at the 'No Notifications' message on his phone… it finally hit him.

"I'm so…" He dropped his face into his hands, a shudder running through his body. He refused to cry over this. It still hurt.

When Naruto looked back up again, the background blurred. His living room transformed into an old attic. Cobwebs and dust hung off the rafters like Christmas stockings on a fireplace. The room was sparse, only a desk by the window, an easel by the desk, a locked chest by the door, and an oil lamp casting a warm glow across the room.

Naruto's no longer sitting on the couch, but on a stool. He's squirming and his ass hurts for an appropriate reason—for once.

"Keep still, you'll mess up my work."

Naruto puffed out his cheeks, "But I've been sitting here for hours!"

Naruto couldn't see it very well but he was certain his lover was smirking behind the easel. "I'm almost done. Be patient and I'll reward you."

"That makes me sound like a dog."

"That's an insult to dogs everywhere."

The blond scowled, moving his head to the side in an obvious show of displeasure. Just to be an ass, Naruto started to wriggle around in his seat. What should have taken another fifteen minutes turned into thirty minutes of arguing, bargains, and finally agreements.

"There. Finally done, though it would have been sooner if—"

Naruto was quick to tackle Sasuke when it was all said and done. His lover flailed, his stool toppling over as his back hit the hardwood floor with a 'thud'. He scowled, reaching up to slap Naruto upside the head.

"Idiot! I made that painting for  _you_! What if it gets messed up?"

"You had it coming!" Naruto smiled, straddling his lover. He smiled down at onyx eyes that could barely hold onto their irritation for more than a few seconds. Soon, his lover was smiling up at him, hands coming to rest on his hips. "I'd never be so careless with a gift that comes from you. I'll treasure it always…" He whispered and pressed his lips to his lovers.

His lover's lips pulled into a smirk, his tongue flicking out to lick Naruto's lower lip. "You wanted to know why I wanted to paint you naked. Well," his hands slid down between their bodies, gripping Naruto's cock in his hand. He gave the flesh a few strokes, watching Naruto's eyes dilate in lust. "It makes the second part of tonight's festivities happen a lot faster."

Naruto smirked, thrusting into his lover's hand. "Oh… I see. You should have explained that earlier. Speaking of dog though… I  _do_ want to know what you'd look like on all fours, would you like to show me?"

Before his lover could respond, Naruto's eyes caught the painting. His eyes widened slightly because it was him but… not him. The painting was soft, serene, with warm earthy tones. It was, to say the least,  _beautiful._ Naruto felt a lump gather up in his throat, and he paused in his thrusting to look down.

"Is that how you really see me…?" His voice was trembling.

There was a tiny smile, followed by the gentle brushing of lips. "Of course," the raven whispered back, running a thumb along Naruto's cheek. "You are the most beautiful thing in this world to me."

They're about to kiss again, this time deeper, but when Naruto opens his eyes again he's back in his room, lying flat on his stomach on the floor. He releases a groan, pounding his fists against the floor. Dammit. Dammit.  _Dammit._

He blindly stuck out his arm for his phone on the coffee table, pulling it down. He got up from the floor and started to put on some clothes. He needed to get out of the apartment. Needed to just… go. Somewhere.  _Anywhere._

His fingers were trembling as he scrolled through his contacts and hit the 'Call' button.

"Naruto? Hey, what's up?"

"Ino. Is Sakura home?"

There's a pause and then, "Are you about to head over now? "

Naruto's heart was pounding loudly against his ribcage, each beat producing a piercing blow as nerves jumped across his skin. Naruto was already halfway down the block, with a movie in hand, turning the memorized corners until he was standing at Sakura's door. Her apartment was only a few minutes walk from his home.

"Naruto," Ino warned, "don't do it. It's not a good time. I  _swear_ —"

Naruto ended the call, his finger pressing the doorbell. He waited with baited breath as the door slowly opened to reveal Sakura—and then his breath stopped completely.

There she was, her blouse unbuttoned so your imagination could run wild and free. Naruto had to swallow back the scream that wanted to rip itself out of his throat as he saw the blush that still conquered her skin.

Sakura's eyes widened with surprise, and a slight twinge of fear, as she spoke. "N-Naruto? What are you doing here?" She hissed as she threw glances behind her shoulder.

' _Don't cry. Smile. Put on a damn smile, Uzumaki.'_ Naruto held up the movie in his hands,  _Bridesmaids_ , and shook it a bit. "I was in the neighborhood and thought, you know, we could watch a movie?" Was his voice trembling or did an earthquake just randomly decide to go off?

Sakura nervously put a piece of hair behind her ear. "I don't think now is the right—"

The door opened more and Naruto froze. Behind Sakura was  _Sasuke Uchiha_ , who looked fully clothed considering Sakura's state of dress. The world went black around Naruto an all he saw was Sasuke. Something danced up his spine, flooded his systems, and he mistook that feeling for uncontrollably, undeniable  _rage._

"What the hell is  _he_ doing here?" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at Sasuke.

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, giving the finger an impassive look. "I was about to leave, actually."

"No!" Sakura put a hand on Sasuke's chest as she gave him her best, flirtatious smile. The one Naruto slowly realized she never used on him—ever. "You just got here. Hold on a minute, okay?" She turned around, fixing Naruto a glare. "You should have called first."

"I did! Well, I called Ino…"

"But you didn't listen. You  _never_ listen, do you?" Sakura let loose a sharp laugh. "I didn't want to hurt you, Naruto. I thought… that night in your apartment we settled things but I guess not." She sighed, her shoulders dropping as she locked eyes with Naruto. "I can't—the thing we had… I can't do it anymore because you're mistaking what we had for something… something  _real_  and Naruto…" She paused, "I don't… I don't love you that way."

Naruto was the glass that shattered into a million pieces. His grip on the DVD is unbearably tight, and every time he breathes he feels like his heart is slowly giving up on him. He bowed his head, a shadow crossing over his eyes.

"Okay," he muttered, completely broken.

"Naruto—"

"—No, Sakura. It's okay. I'm the one who fucked up, who caught the feels. Y-You were right we were just…" his throat closed up on him, and he sucked in a sharp breath. He couldn't say it. He couldn't say those damn words because they hurt too fucking much. Naruto glanced up, catching Sasuke's gaze. It looked oddly… pitiful, and Naruto mistook that emotion again for fake empathy over having won the battle. He bit his lower lip and turned on his heel, taking the stairs two at a time.

He called Gaara immediately after.

"Ino told me you went and did something stupid." Gaara said as soon as he picked up.

"Don't be an asshole,  _please_."

"I'm a firm believer in tough love, you know that."

"Fuck you, I've already had enough toughness for a lifetime. Just… can I stay over tonight?" Naruto's hand was shaking as he held onto the phone. His voice cracked. "I can't—I don't want to go back to my apartment."

Gaara opened the door, finding Naruto already at the doorstep—just as he expected. He hung up the phone and pulled Naruto into his arms. Muffled sobs were caught in his chest.

"You're an idiot."

"I know," Naruto choked.

"Wasn't the first time enough?"

"Shut up."

"You never learn."

"Shut up!"

Gaara sighed. Although Naruto was being reluctant, he knew his words were getting through to him. It gave him no pleasure to play the bad guy but Naruto would only learn if he didn't bullshit.

"Come inside. I can't have the neighbors seeing us—they'll ask too many questions and then invite you to potluck night and you wouldn't survive that one bit."

/

 

A few days later and it's Kiba, Gaara, and Naruto at lunch. Naruto's plate is completely full, which was abnormal considering he could finish five plates in less than a minute.

"Dude, this is pathetic," Kiba shook his head, watching Naruto build forts out of his French fries.

"He's been like this for days," Gaara said, turning the page in his book. "This is the longest funk he's ever been in."

"Fuck the funk!" Kiba slammed his hands on the table. "Dude, Naruto. Naruto look at me."

Naruto looked up slowly and shot Kiba a glare. "What do you want?"

"To get you out of this damn funk! Look, tomorrow night our boys from the soccer team are throwing a huge party with the lacrosse girls—everyone's gonna be there and you  _need this_. Trust me, I know you do." He threw his arm around Naruto's shoulders and beamed. "Get wasted, find a new girl, bang, forget, repeat."

Kiba had a point… Naruto had been sulking for far too long and the constant sight of Sakura flirting with Sasuke was really wearing him out. He had already dried out all his emotions over being dumped and honestly, he wasn't all that bent out of shape over it anymore. Which was bothering the hell out of Naruto because he was supposed to  _love_ Sakura and the next day he was… okay.

The dreams were still occurring, and those were fucking him up more than being dumped.

He needed the break, just like Naruto said. Who knows, maybe he'd find someone else at the party to get his mind off everything—especially the dreams.

Gaara and Kiba were both giving him expectant looks. Finally, he flashed Kiba a smile and went for the fist pound. "Alright, alright. You got me. I'll go the party."

Getting wasted was the best way to avoid your problems, right? Right. So that's was what Naruto was going to do whether it ended up getting him killed or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kudos! I love it, and I hope you all are enjoying the story thus far (:


	3. Snake Bites

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This update is coming very quickly because I already have chapter 3 done and I'm hosting this story on both ao3 and fanfiction and forgot to update ao3 whoops--DID THAT MAKE SENSE? No probably not. Anywho thanks for all the kudos and comments (:

Naruto's game plan was simple. He made a tally of all the times he woke up in the middle of the night due to his dreams and planned to take that many shots of vodka. Sure, he had a 2,000-word paper due Sunday at noon and all he had was the header but his professor would understand. That, and Naruto was certain with the little sleep he had been getting over the past couple of weeks his paper would end up shitty no matter how much he pulled out of his ass.

Just as Kiba promised, Friday night was pumping and the party was in full swing. Music blared through out the frat. The lights were off; smoke and chatter filled the air. The floors were sticky from alcohol—and probably barf, but Naruto was too buzzed to give a shit about the latter. Bodies were pressed skin to skin on the dance floor, grinding and dancing around each other. Everywhere Naruto looked he saw people exchanging saliva on the dance floor.

"Gaara, Gaaaaaara!" Naruto tugged on Gaara's sleeve, puckering his lips. "Let's do what they're doing."

Gaara pushed Naruto's face away from his, "Not when your breath reeks of alcohol. Maybe when you're sober."

"It's no fun soooober!"

Kiba, who was already trashed out of his mind, slapped his hand against the table several times. "Awwwmyeeeen."

A few hours earlier the three boys had worked out party plans. Gaara would be the DD since he found drinking to be a stupid activity. Naruto was only going to drink enough to get borderline drunk. Kiba was the only one who planned to get wasted to the point of no return.

"If I don't throw up on at least five pieces of furniture I didn't do it right," Kiba had said as they all pre-gamed before the party.

Now they were at the party and Kiba had already slipped back into the crowd to dance with girls. Naruto and Gaara were off to the side, Naruto nursing a beer. This night was supposed to be one of forget without regret. He made thinking about Sakura completely off limits. Anytime the beautiful pink-haired girl came to mind, he'd take a very long swig of his beer.

He'd gone through three cups this way.

Gaara gave Naruto a look, "You're not enjoying yourself."

"Course I am, Gaara-poo! What makes you think I'm not?"

"Because you keep looking for her," Gaara deadpanned.

Naruto winced. Instead of answering he took another sip of his beer. He didn't have the heart to tell him that he wasn't, uh, exactly looking for Sakura. He had already found her at the party, dancing with some other guy who wasn't Sasuke. The sight did nothing more than release a dull pang in the bottom of his stomach, but other than that he was okay.

In fact, his eyes unconsciously kept looking for someone else. Naruto couldn't explain it but he had a feeling he was supposed to meet someone here. His eyes kept darting, hoping to find that person but he couldn't understand why and it was really bothering him.

He was also really confused right now from the dreams and lack of sleep and the appearance of  _Sasuke Uchiha_  who just fucked shit up even more. Speaking of  _Sasuke Uchiha,_  Naruto hadn't seen hide or tail of him all night and the party had been going strong for about three hours now.

' _Where's that shit stain? I wanna give him seven pieces of my mind!'_

As the raven crossed his mind, Naruto's eyes finally locked in on him. Off to the side Sasuke stood as he leaned against a wall. His arms were folded and it looked like he was scrolling through his phone. Once again the world around Naruto blurred and all he could see was Sasuke. It was like the world turned black and white and the only color that prevailed was around Sasuke and Naruto.

He shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. Hoping that when he reopened them the world would go back to its darkened lights and smoky hazed surroundings. It didn't. The difference had only become sharper.

Naruto gripped his head, a sharp, stabbing pain resounding against his skull.

"You alright?" Gaara's voice was near his ear. It sounded… weird. Not  _right_  to Naruto's ears.

The blond nodded, slightly pushing Gaara away. He ignored the frown and pointed towards Sasuke. "I'll be back!" he hollered over the music.

"Don't do it, Naruto! It's a bad idea."

"Too drunk to care!" Naruto retorted before he slipped into the crowd. He couldn't see anyone else, nor did he really care. All he  _did_ care about was reaching Sasuke. Naruto had 27 bones to pick with this guy. First for wearing really tight pants because Naruto knew they weren't worn for comfort's sake. Then, for stealing Sakura away from him and not even giving two shits about her after the matter was done. And maybe while he's at it he'll blame Sasuke for global warming, terrorism, and potato chips bags made of 75% air.

"Hey!" Naruto swayed a bit as he approached Sasuke. "Heeeey!"

Sasuke glanced up from his phone. "She's not with me."

"Who?" Naruto's face scrunched up with confusion.

"The pink-haired one. She's not here with me so you can save your yelling for someone else," Sasuke said.

Naruto held up a finger, "Okay fiiiirst of all—I didn't come here to yell, just angrily raise my voice!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Right. Because that's any different."

His blood started to boil once more. He always got out of control around Sasuke, and it was insane that one person—who he barely spokw to—could make him feel this  _crazy_.

"You are so… so frustrating!" Naruto threw his hands up in the air, his drink sloshing around his cup. "I have only talked to you, like, twice man and you get under my fucking skin so damn easily—I kinda  _hate you_."

Blue eyes locked with black and Naruto could have sworn he saw a pang of hurt go through the raven's eyes. But acknowledging that would be the same as acknowledging that Sasuke wasn't an unfeeling automaton so Naruto brushed off what he saw.

"I can't say I share the same sentiments," Sasuke frowned.

Naruto barked out a laugh, "Oh really? Is that why you stole Sakura from me, huh?"

"I didn't  _steal_ her. That would require putting in effort, and she came to me of her own accord."

The dull ache in his stomach intensified after hearing that. It was like the whole idea of Naruto not being good enough for Sakura, after all those years of trying, had finally been reinforced. Such a thought  _killed_ him.

He wants to direct that pain into anger towards Sasuke. He wants to make that pretty boy face of his all black and blue and unlovable. His mind was thinking of all the things he could just  _do_ to Sasuke's body. Mark it up so no one would ever want to go near him. Find that sensitive spot of his he used to know… abuse that…

Naruto mentally shook his head, trying to stop that train of thought, but it was already too late. A barrage of flashbacks flittered through his mind all at once. Images of shirt pulling, tongue kissing,  _biting, moaning_ , they all came at Naruto like a whirlwind. The person he was with was becoming clearer too—black hair, a cocky smile, but the face was still—

Fuck, did Sasuke always smell this nice? Like fucking cinnamon and confidence. His body unconsciously leaned towards Sasuke, as if gravity was pulling them together. He glared up at Sasuke, their noses almost touching.

"You're too close," Naruto mumbled.

Sasuke smirked, "You're the one who came to me."

"I hate you," Naruto said again, but this time it lacked conviction.

The raven scoffed. For a second, hesitation flashed across his eyes. Then Sasuke rested his hands on Naruto's hips.

Sasuke swallowed, "Dance with me."

Naruto is kind of hyperventilating because he can feel the heat radiating off of Sasuke's fingertips on his hips. They fit there so  _perfectly_  and it's weird because they're hips, your fingers only have one place to go. But it was like Sasuke's fingers were created to fit into the notches magically created on Naruto's hips.

The world blurred around Naruto as he asked, "Why?"

"Just trust me," Sasuke whispered into Naruto's ear. And, dammit, Naruto  _did._

Sasuke clasped their hands together, and a shot of electricity jumped up and down Naruto's arm as they waded their way onto the dance floor with Sasuke. His eyebrows furrowed and his lips turned into a frown because, strangely enough, Naruto realized that his hand was fit just a little  _too_ perfectly with Sasuke's.

' _Dammit! Why am I noticing these things?'_ It was absolutely maddening that he was becoming more aware of Sasuke the longer their hands stayed connected. He couldn't rip his eyes away from Sasuke as he faced him, smirk in place and hands on his hips.

Sasuke makes the first move, his hips flowing to the chaotic beat of the music. Naruto's a little hesitant to follow, but the tiny smile Sasuke flashes his way does something to him. His bones melt and his body follows suit. Naruto's arms wrapped around Sasuke's shoulders as they danced together; their bodies close and hips meshed.

The world blurred around them once more, a sea of black where Naruto and Sasuke were the only ones in color. Heat radiated intensely around the two. Naruto felt fire and ice erupt across his skin. His heart felt like it was going to implode and his blood felt energized. He never, in his life, ever felt this way with another person before. Not even with Sakura, when they were fucking, did he feel his breath being snatched away with ever glance he spared towards Sasuke. He wants to kiss him. To close the tiny space and just fucking  _kiss him._

And… that  _scares him._ Scares him to the core of his soul and rattles his bones because he can see parts of Sasuke in the person in his dreams. And now he's wondering if they're even dreams at all because they've all felt so  _real_. He's terrified, terrified beyond belief thinking about how he might not actually hate Sasuke as much as he yells to the heaven's about. It makes sense, though, right? To hate Sasuke because he took Sakura away from him? But… he's over that now—he's only bringing it up for the sake of an argument.

The connection he feels with Sasuke, as their breaths intermingle in the tight space between them. As the entire world fades into nothingness and all he sees is Sasuke, it's too much. It's just  _too much._

So he bolted.

Bolted without sparing a glance back at Sasuke because he knows without having to look back what face he'll see. He's not sure if he's ready to accept that kind of Sasuke Uchiha.

/

"Fuck me," Naruto sighed, resting his head on his knees. He was sitting out on the sidewalk, away from the party. The chilly November air clung to his shoulders like a coat. He was all sobered up by now, and his mind was replaying the events over and over. He had no idea what came over him in there. Probably the alcohol and the environment got to his head, yeah, that sounded right.

"No way do I like him—no fucking way." Deep down he doesn't believe it. Something in side knew that his words were false, but he refused to acknowledge the truth. He had to be going insane since now Naruto's starting to think that maybe…

Maybe the person all along in his dreams has been Sasuke.

And once again he feels fear claw at his throat. His eyes burn and he buries his head deeper into his arms.

You're not supposed to dream about the person you proclaimed your hatred for one day while taking a shit on the second floor bathroom—it's just not how things worked.

He heard something rattling nearby. Naruto lifted his head, catching a glitter of eyes, followed by a soft hissing noise coming from the bushes.

" _Come,"_ He heard a voice say in his head. Naruto felt compelled to go to the bushes. He got on all knees, slowly crawling along the grass. The hissing intensified, a hypnotic sound that lulled Naruto's senses. He saw a pair of golden eyes reflecting in the bush.

"So pretty…" he muttered, slowly outstretching his hand. The hissing steadily began to crescendo. A pair of fangs appeared in the darkness of the shrubs. Cut to the sharpness of diamonds and Naruto wanted to see what would happen if he touched them for just a—

"Naruto! Stop!"

Sasuke's voice snapped Naruto out of the daze. "Wha—" He saw Sasuke approaching him with a sword in hand. Naruto's brain was slowly trying to reconfigure itself to understand what was going on, but before he could question why the hell Sasuke was carrying a sword, he felt a sharp pain run up his hand.

"Fuck!" He swore. The thing bit him! Now that he had a better look, he realized that the  _thing_ was actually a snake. "What the hell? Get off, dammit!" Naruto shook his hand but the snake's fangs only sunk deeper. "OW!"

The pain was so intense, running into his veins. Piercing and stabbing, Naruto thought his hand was going to fall off. The corners of his eyes were prickling with tears and Naruto had to bite down on his lower lip to keep from screaming bloody murder. Fucking  _hell_ why did this shit always have to happen to him?

Suddenly, Sasuke appeared, right by his side to boot. He raised his golden sword and sliced the snake right down the middle. The snake barely stood a chance, it's entire body turning to ash upon impact.

Naruto sat on his butt, awestruck. "W-What?"

"Shut up," Sasuke gripped Naruto's hand, examining the puncture wounds. "They don't look too deep. Dammit, I let my guard down…"

Naruto's head was swimming. Nothing made sense anymore. Sasuke just carried a sword around for kicks? Where the hell had he been keeping that? Definitely not in his front pocket, that's for sure. And the snake—they were in fucking  _Tokyo_ you can't find snakes—especially ones bigger than a garden snake, in Tokyo.

The world started to blur again, but this time it wasn't only because of Sasuke. The pain had become too intense. Naruto felt his eyes slip shut. He could have sworn he heard Sasuke say something along the lines of  _"Don't close your eyes"_ and  _"You can't leave me again"_ but sleep sounded  _so nice_ …

/

"You're always getting hurt."

"Not true. Wednesday I spent the entire day without getting a single scrape!"

"Because you spent the whole day sleeping."

"I was really sleepy, okay!  _Someone_ kept me up all night."

A smirk, "Not my fault. You wouldn't let me go. Clinging onto me with all your might."

Naruto buried his face in his hands, kicking at the bed in frustration. "Good Lord, who would have thought such a cocky bastard could say embarrassing shit like that without, like, dying."

His lover rolled his eyes, fingers casually drumming along Naruto's naked hipbone. "It's a skill. One I perfected so I can see you startled."

Naruto peeked out from his hands, the corner of his lips pulled in a smirk. "Huh, that sounds rather sadistic of you."

"You use that term too loosely," His lover scoffed. This time he pressed his forehead to Naruto's, a frown forming on his lips. "Your face is still warm."

"Well yeah. We made love all night. Course my body's still going to be flushed."

"You know what I mean, Naruto."

"You're worrying too much." Naruto closed the distance between them to kiss his lover's nose. "The doctor's say it won't get bed. It's only a cold. I'll be better by tomorrow."

He didn't have the heart to tell Naruto that was the same trick he used everyday. "I can't help but worry." Naruto's body was born weak. Sickness came to him easily but refused to leave without a fight. A common cold could turn into pneumonia in a blink of an eye. His lover pulled Naruto into his arms, burying his nose into soft, blond locks. "I can't—I don't want to lose you," the words  _'again'_ hung in the air.

Naruto shook his head, pulling back far enough so he could look his lover in the eyes. "You always say that. That you're afraid of losing me like… like it's happened before. You gotta cheer up! I'm a fighter and a hell of a lot stronger than I look. No stupid cold is going to knock me out." He cupped his lover's face, a warm smile erupting from his lips. "I'm not leaving you, Sasuke, ever."

The shadows surrounding Sasuke's face cleared. He smiled back, but it was a little sadder. He knew not to believe those words so easily anymore. But he was in love, hopelessly so, and so he would take the promise and lock it in his heart where he hoped it was safe enough to actually become true.

"Promise?" Sasuke whispered.

Naruto nodded, "Promise."

Their lips were so close to kissing, to sparking another round of passionate love making, but at that moment Naruto's eyes snapped open. He shot right of bed, chest panting, as he clutched onto the sheets draped across his stomach.

"The… the hell…?" He whipped his head back and forth. This wasn't his dinky one room apartment. This place was sparse. No photographs of family members or trophies from soccer games or  _anything,_ really. This place was much neater, too, and Naruto didn't own any leather couches. He was too poor for such a thing. For a minute he thought he picked up some chick and this was her house, but then he felt a shooting pain run up his hand.

And he remembered  _everything._

"Shit, shit,  _shit_." Naruto dropped his head in his hands. Only he regretted it later when the movement caused his right hand to hurt again. "I can't believe it. I can't  _fucking believe it_."

"You can't believe what?" Sasuke stood at the doorway to his living room, a glass of water in hand.

Naruto's head shot up. "Who the hell are you?" He asked, voice dangerously low.

Sasuke frowned, "The poison shouldn't have sparked any memory loss…"

Naruto's breath caught in his throat.  _'Calm. Calm down, Naruto.'_ He could lose his cool later, after he got some answers that could make sense out of why  _Sasuke Uchiha_  had been the one in his dreams all these times.

"You know what I mean."

"You already know the answer yourself."

 _Lovers,_ his mind whispered—Naruto immediately shot that down.

Sasuke shook his head, muttering something under his breath. He walked over to Naruto and the blond was instantly on the defense. His glare was intense, shooting daggers at the raven. Sasuke reached out as if to touch Naruto's forehead, hesitated, and then decided to put the glass of water down on the coffee table instead.

"Drink" Sasuke said, "You need fluids. Afterwards get some rest." He made a beeline for the doorway, glancing over his shoulder one more time. "I know that you're… confused and angry— " he snorted as Naruto's glare deepened, "—very angry, but I know you have questions. I'll be downstairs."

He gave one final parting look to Naruto before he disappeared out of sight. Now Naruto was alone to his thoughts, which was a terrible thing to do because all thoughts were chaotic right now.

Naruto flopped back down onto the couch, throwing an arm over his eyes. He groaned and said, "I have no idea what's going on anymore." His hand still ached, though the pain had receded to a dull ache by now. A constant reminder that his life had hit the fan and that fan was not about to turn off anytime soon.


	4. Discovered Truths

Naruto doesn't really sleep. He was afraid that, if he closed his eyes, he'd see Sasuke again. A Sasuke that was bleeding, a Sasuke that was smiling, a Sasuke that was  _naked_ and on top of him—and honestly, having a real life Sasuke just one floor below you was enough to deal with. He didn't need to see a Dream Sasuke too who, somehow, had the power to make Dream Naruto go all…  _gooey._

Also he drank all the water and his stomach was rumbling. "Food. I'm going for food—free food." Which, really, was the only reason he was getting up at all.

A wave of delicious smelling food hit his nostrils as he stood at the top of the stairs. His mouth watered and his stomach rumbling morphed into a starving bear. Naruto clutched his stomach. The ache in his hand had receded to a dull throb now.

When he got downstairs he wasn't surprised to find Sasuke over the stove making… spaghetti? Naruto was more surprised with the fact that he  _wasn't_ surprised.  _'Of course, he cooked for you all the time,'_ his mind supplied. Naruto decked his mind in the face.

Sasuke was on the phone, stirring the pot of boiling noodles. He was muttering something that Naruto couldn't catch. Then Sasuke turned his head and nodded for Naruto take a seat.

Naruto huffed and crossed his arms, standing at the doorway. He refused to budge.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the pot. "I'll let you know," he said before hanging up. Sasuke took the finished pasta, drained out the water, and placed the meal on a plate. He sat down at the table with the two plates.

"Take a seat," Sasuke said.

Naruto snorted, "Don't tell me how to live my life," but he went to sit down anyways. The dinner table triggered a flashback.

They were little flashbacks where Sasuke served him a fancier meal under the guidance of stars and candlelight. He saw glimpses of stealing bites off of one another's plates, "accidentally" grazing their feet against one another underneath the table, and tiny kisses stolen in the moment flashed through his mind. They were both buzzed, from the wine Naruto stole out of his father's wine cellar, and the love that radiated between them.

It was the feeling of Sasuke's hand almost touching his that snapped Naruto out of the flashback. He immediately recoiled, bringing both his hands into his lap.

"Another one, huh," it wasn't a question. No rhyme or reason dancing around in the way Sasuke intonated his voice. It's only  _fact_ , and the sneaking suspicion that he's trying to ward off the pain in his voice over being rejected.

Naruto paused, blue eyes slightly narrowing, "You know… don't you." He finally said. He doesn't use a question either. "Why I'm having these… these  _dreams_."

Sasuke rolled up a round of spaghetti around his fork and shoved it into his mouth. "They're not dreams."

Naruto didn't know how to respond.  _Memories_ were on the tip of his tongue but he bit the word back and locked it up in his throat where it belonged. If he said it out loud, that they really  _weren't_  dreams. If he spoke the perceived truth into existence, it would only solidify the situation. Made it more… real.

"Eat first, then we'll talk."

"I wanna talk now!" But his stomach started to make angry bear noises and the food smelled  _really good_ so he decided to eat, for now.

Dinner was silent. Naruto made the excuse that he was too busy to eat to talk. Or to actually look at Sasuke in the eye, for that matter. And every time the raven tried to make conversation Naruto would shoot it down with one-word phrases. He wasn't about to converse until he got to the bottom of things. When they're finished, Sasuke gathers up the plates and places them in the dishwasher.

Naruto was a bundle of nerves. He chewed on his bottom lip and tried hard not to explode. His eyes unconsciously took in the slope of Sasuke's back. He knew what lied underneath. A strong back riddled with scars from war. A tattoo written in Latin he'd gotten for his many victories in battle. His eyes traveled up to Sasuke's neck and Naruto licks his lips. He wants to  _lick_ that neck, and he bites his lips again so he didn't get carried away with the thought.

Sasuke glanced over his shoulder. Their eyes locked and Sasuke looked  _so damn calm_. Naruto snapped.

"I need answers, dammit!" Naruto slammed his fists onto the table. "Stop being fucking cool for five seconds and tell me why the hell every time I close my eyes I see  _you. You in every damn sense of the word._ "

Silence hung between the two. Naruto was breathing hard, fingers trembling. He hadn't meant to explode like that, but this was driving him insane. The dreams, last night, Sasuke— _everything_. His whole world was turning upside down and ripped apart at the seams and it felt like there was nothing he could do about it.

But if Sasuke knew what was going on and how to solve it so Naruto could go back to a normal life, hell, Naruto would  _kill_ to make that happen.

Finally, Sasuke sighed and sat back down at the table. Their eyes locked again, blue clashing with onyx, as Sasuke leaned across the table to press his finger to Naruto's chest.

"Because of this."

Naruto glanced down at the finger "My nipple?"

"No you idiot. Your  _soul_."

"What the hell does that mean? Like… like we're soul mates or something?"

When he didn't get a response back, Naruto slammed his forehead against the table, muttering, "This makes no fucking sense." Good Lord he was going to break down into hysterics soon.

"Not really," Sasuke said calmly as he watched Naruto have a mini-breakdown. "The Greeks have this… myth. Originally humans were born with four arms, four legs, and a head with two faces. Plato wrote how Zeus was terrified of the power human beings have. So he split them into two separate parts, born to constantly search for their other half."

A blank look crossed Naruto's face. Sasuke smirked and said, "If you didn't sleep in Kakashi's class you'd know what I'm talking about."

A blush crept up and dominated half of Naruto's face. "S-Shut up! I was listening just… with my eyes closed. And  _also_ you said 'myth' and I know that a myth's not supposed to be real! Neither is Zeus or the Greek gods or… or any of that stuff—it's just legend!"

Sasuke snorted, "Do you really believe that?"

 _No_ , "Yes."

"This world is so huge, the universe so vast. They are some things you have to believe in. Those dreams are proof, Naruto. The fact that you never eve met me beforehand when those dreams started should be enough."

There was another pause. Naruto begrudgingly had to admit that Sasuke was right. His soul knew the truth, right to the core, that the legends were more than  _myths_. That they're as real as the air Naruto was currently trying not to choke on.

Finally, Naruto decided to ask the second question that's been plaguing his thoughts all this time. "Do you… do you have those dreams too?"

"No."

The answer was sharp, to the point, and Naruto wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all.

"Why?"

A pained look crossed Sasuke's face, "I… It's complicated."

Naruto folded his arms, "I'm listening." The two shared a silent staring contest. Naruto's eyes were so narrowed his head started to throb.

Sasuke finally relented, running a hand through his hair. "I don't need the dreams because… I remember everything—about us, our past lives."

"Past lives?" Naruto's voice felt hoarse and his throat was on fire. Things were falling into place. It all started to fucking click. Like why his dreams felt so real and lifelike and soul consuming. Why he felt such a strong connection to Sasuke the minute that bastard locked eyes with him. It was all so _fucking clear_ Naruto wanted to sob—again, loudly, and frenziedly.

Sasuke ran another hand through his hair. An immense pain settled into the pit of Naruto stomach from looking at Sasuke. He didn't know why it came or how it happened. All he had to do was look at the way Sasuke's eyebrows were furrowed and how he was muttering to himself to know that he was in pain. And then he realized it was because he's feeling it—Sasuke's pain, emotionally and right to the bone.

Naruto was fucking scared out of his wits. He looked across the table and he swore he could see shimmery red thread connecting them. The thread looked weak now but somehow Naruto knew it would grow brighter the more their connection grew, and the thought fucking terrified him because  _how much more_ could grow between them?

He didn't want that, and at the same time he craved the connection, the growth, the bond—more than anything in the world.

"Our story starts in Ancient Greece," Sasuke began after he gathered his wits. "I was a solider and you were a simple village boy. A war was going on between the gods and the humans because of the creation of demigods."

"Humans born from the gods," Naruto whispered. Wait, how the hell did he know that? He slept through every one of Kakashi's classes during Greek Myth week.

Sasuke nodded and continued. "Humans, although they revered the gods, didn't really like their tampering with humanity that closely—and they were afraid of the new race of demigods that looked like humans but carried out the powers of a god."

Something clicked in Naruto's brain then, inspired by the word  _demigod._ "You're… you're one of them, a demigod." He says the word casually. As if his revelation was commonplace, because he knew it. Knew what Sasuke was before Sasuke even had to tell him.

Sasuke nodded again, a hint of surprise reflecting in his eyes. Naruto felt another ball of ice growing in the pit of his stomach.

"Right. We met and fell in love. I'm sure you've seen it. The day I came back from a vicious battle. I fought for my father's, Ares's, namesake. Came back a little bloodied," he smiled faintly, "you were a wreck."

Naruto's fists clenched as the memory hit him. He remembered that day. He remembered those  _exact feelings_ his past self felt all those years ago. He refused to look at Sasuke's eyes, though, because then he'd be admitting it. And, if he looked into Sasuke's eyes, Naruto had no idea if he'd be able to fend off the tears threatening to come out that his past self almost shed over the fear of losing Sasuke to the war.

"Then what happened?" Naruto managed to croak out.

"… You died."

Naruto felt like someone had reached a hand down his throat and ripped the air out of his lungs. He tried to open his mouth, to formulate words and say  _something_ , but he ended up with nothing. Then a memory flashed. Blood, pain, the sight of glittering gold eyes and hissing—a  _loud hissing_ that refused to go away as the world went black around Naruto.

His nails dug so deeply into the palms of his hand, he almost drew blood.

A shadow crossed Sasuke's face as he swallowed. "I was… enraged, and devastated. I wasn't ready to lose you. So I asked Aphrodite for a favor. She owed me one," he said with a tiny smirk. "She told me about this special thread the Fates used to link lovers together through out time. But they were running low and I had to go find the ingredients myself before the Winter Solstice if I wanted to revive your soul. Didn't really give me a lot of time, but I was determined to do it. Needless to say I got them what the needed and they made the thread and weaved it into your tapestry."

"So you made a deal with Aphrodite, so I could keep coming back to life?" His tone should be more ludicrous but Naruto was absolutely calm when he asked.

Another nod. "She granted me immortality, as well as clueing me in on when you were being reborn. But it came at a price. You kept… you kept  _dying_ , no matter how many times I found you and we fell in love you just kept dying. And I couldn't stop it. After a while I stopped coming to you."

"Why?" the word came out with a lot more venom than Naruto intended.

"You died so many times, so many ways with no explanation. Sometimes it was natural causes, or disease, or bad luck. It became too much, seeing you die and not being able to do a damn thing about it—no matter how many times I begged the gods to grant you immortality."

The hissing came again, a low whisper brought to Naruto's ears. He could see the golden eyes staring at him,  _mocking him_ , and Naruto couldn't help but ask if a snake was involved.

Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction, and he glanced off to the side going silent for a bit. "I'm... not sure," he finally said.

Naruto knew he was lying, but he doesn't press it because there's so much for his brain to process right now, he'd rather handle one thing at a time.

"So? What's different? Why did you come back now after you left me, huh? Got lonely?  _Bored_?" Naruto's words were sharpened with daggers. His chest hurt. His heart clenched painfully and tears threaten to burn. Hell, he might not like the guy but his soul apparently couldn't get  _enough_ of Sasuke. And the fact that after a while he just abandoned him really grated on his nerves. His soul felt betrayed, simple as that. Betrayed by this dude who dared to call himself his lover—no,  _Sasuke_ , fuck he's not his lover. Not now, anyways.

 _No, not ever,_ Naruto reaffirmed, but even saying that didn't feel right at all. Damn you, soul.

There was a hint of sadness that Naruto was surprised Sasuke didn't bother to mask. It wasn't a lot but enough that Naruto felt it too. A wave of sadness that was strong enough to drown him.

"The thread's running out, the one the Fates use to continue your reincarnation. They refuse to create another one—says it takes too much magic." Sasuke looked up and Naruto couldn't fight off the urge to back down from his gaze. "If you die now, here, in this time—it's game over."

/

 

Three days passed and Naruto's hanging out at the local coffee shop with Gaara. A weekly get together where they do homework, chat, and just hang out. Only this time Naruto couldn't focus on Krishna or his dharma. His mind kept reeling back to a few days ago back at Sasuke's house.

Promptly after Sasuke said that this was it, his final days to speak, as far as the lifespan of the thread was concerned, Naruto stormed out of the apartment. There was only so much bullshit Naruto could handle and he had finally reached his limit.

Sasuke tried to stop him, grabbing onto Naruto's arm.

Naruto had wrenched his grip out of Sasuke's hand. "Fuck you, Uchiha! You mean what, I'm gonna die? News flash, I'm human.  _WE ALL FUCKING DIE._ "

"No, you don't understand—"

"—Oh, and you do? Well spill, Uchiha. You act like I keep dying because someone  _wants_ me to be dead!"

There was a pause, and the hissing comes back. And he thought back to the snake and then everything made sense. How Sasuke had lied to him back in the kitchen, dismissing the possibility of an outside force. He hadn't died because of the Fates or because Aphrodite liked to see Sasuke suffer. Oh no, someone had always wanted him  _dead._

Naruto suddenly had felt very, very cold.

"There's… a possibility," Sasuke started.

"If you want me to stick around for more than five seconds, Uchiha, I need you to stop being around the damn bush.  _Tell me_."

Then Sasuke had started talking about this demigod named Orochimaru. He was the son of Medusa who had apparently planned a revolt against the gods. He wanted to get together a band of warriors who could overthrow the gods while they were too busy worrying about the war to worry about their own security. Orochimaru had apparently sought out Sasuke for his army but Sasuke had declined.

"I had someone I wanted to protect, and doing something so suicidal wouldn't benefit me at all." When he said 'someone I wanted to protect' his eyes had met Naruto's and he grinned that stupid fucking grin like he was  _so damn proud of himself._

Naruto wanted to kiss it off his face—and then punch it.

"It's a hunch," Sasuke had continued, "but your body always puncture holes somewhere, no matter how you died."

Then Naruto had thought back to the party, to the snake, and the golden eyes and his breath had stopped when he realized he had been so close to dying. Again.  _Again._ Luckily, Sasuke had come in time to save him, before the thread ran out completely because of Naruto's own damn stupidity.

"So now what?" Naruto spat out. "You think now that I know what the hell's going on we're gonna fall in love like the good old times?"

Sasuke had offered him a lopsided grin, "It was a nice thought to entertain."

Naruto had flipped him the bird, "Entertain this thought, Uchiha," and then stomped off once more.

 _Fuck yeah, I showed him._ Naruto thought. The only good part about that day was shoving it up Sasuke's ass how much he  _wasn't about_ this soul mate business. And yeah, okay, maybe after he went home he admitted that he was being a close-minded asshole. But this soul mate business had interrupted both his sleep  _and_ his sex life—he had a very good reason to be salty.

Gaara cleared his throat, drawing Naruto's attention back to the present. "Something on your mind?" He asked.

Naruto shook his head, "Yeah man. I'm fine." But he's not. He's really not. Sasuke's had expectations of him being the person he is in his dreams. The one who clung to Sasuke every time they made love. Or the one who's heart pounded and begged to be freed every time Sasuke looked his way, or smiled, or even laughed. To be the one whose soul  _craved_ to be near Sasuke every second of every day.

Naruto couldn't be that. It wasn't fair that his life had to be uprooted to suit one damn person who had apparently fucking left him for years. He couldn't even use Sakura as an excuse as to why he didn't want to be with Sasuke. No, it was simply a constant war. It was a war where his mind going against his body, heart, and soul all at once. His body, soul, and heart wanted Sasuke but his mind said,  _'You just met this dude. He took Sakura. He's an ass. He owns leather pants.'_

But he soul always came back with the same old damn line.

' _You love him'._

"I don't!" Naruto yelled. Every eye in the coffee shop looked at him. Oh. Right. He was in public. Naruto blushed and decided that his coffee cup looked really cool on the inside.

He could feel Gaara's eyes boring holes into his skull. He had already barraged him with questions about Naruto's hand. Naruto had come up with a lie that he was drunk and broke his hand. It was enough to sate Mama Gaara for now. Didn't mean Gaara was finished asking questions.

"So, when do you plan to tell me what happened with Uchiha after the party?"

"Wait, how'd you know I was Uchiha the whole time?"

"The fact that you just admitted it, for starters." Oh right. Shit. Naruto swore under his breath and tried once more to drown himself in coffee. It wasn't working. "Secondly, he came up to me. Told me he was taking you home. Said you had too much to drink."

"And you didn't fight for my honor?"

"I didn't feel the need to, no."

"Worst. Best friend. Ever."

Gaara snorted in response. Naruto cracked a smile, and the two fell into conversation about random nothings, which was great for Naruto since this was  _normal._ Chilling out with Gaara over over-priced coffee and not having to worry about his life being on the line or some leather pants wearing bastard being too love struck to function.

Ino and Sakura walked in about five minutes later. So Naruto and Gaara moved their operations to a bigger table.

"Yo guys! Sorry we're late." Ino dropped her purse onto the table then flopped into a chair. "Traffic was  _murder_."

Sakura wasn't as loud. Which was rare because she never passed up a chance to outdo Ino in anything. She sat down at the table, fiddling with her thumbs. Naruto felt awkward  _looking_ at her, and cleared his throat.

"We don't have to be awkward," he offered with a wry smile. "We were friends first, you know."

"Right…" Sakura smiled, and this time it reached her eyes. The four friends fell into routine then. It didn't take Naruto very long before he said something that had Sakura calling him 'idiot', 'stupid', and 'dumb'. Oh yeah, this was nice. He loved this, and missed this. The arguments, the banter, the insults, and yup—his heart totally wasn't flipping out over the sight of Sakura.

He was officially over her.

"Soooo, Sakura. How are you and the new boo you met last Friday?" Ino was always the first one to hop on gossip. She said it was because she has to be the first one to know, so when the story blows out of proportion she can shame whatever fool made it that way with her accuracy. Some power play thing girls did that Naruto never understood.

"New boo?" Naruto cocked an eyebrow. "What happened to Sasuke?" He couldn't help but ask since Sakura was all head over heels with the guy a few weeks ago.

"Honestly?" Sakura sighed. "Nothing. I tried. He didn't bite. Said it wouldn't be fair since he could never see me that way." She shrugged. "Guess he's in love with somebody else."

 _Yeah, me_ , Naruto bit the words back because  _holy heck_ the irony was too real to handle right now.

His phone buzzed after that. He looked at the screen and almost choked on air.

"What's up?" Ino asked.

"Uh…" he's faced with three pairs of curious eyes, "nothing." He lied, unlocking his phone so he could read the message. It was a picture of Sasuke taking a damn selfie across the street from the coffee shop. Naruto shot his head up and, lo and behold, there was Sasuke. He stood there, eyes meeting Naruto's, and smirked while he gave the blodn a wave.

_Naruto: WHAT THE HELL?_

_Sasuke: Come outside._

_Naruto: n O._

He got a picture message next. A picture of Naruto passed out on Sasuke's couch wearing a bra.  _What the fuck_? Naruto had half a mind to throw his damn phone out the window.  _When did this happen? How does he have that bra? Why is it so fucking huge?!_

_Sasuke: Ultimatum. Come outside or this goes viral._

_Fuck me_ , Naruto thought as he got up from the table. "Hold on, guys. I gotta go take care of something real quick." Naruto's outside before he had the chance to hear anyone's response. A car almost hit him—almost—as he crossed the street. It was no damn surprise that he found Sasuke grinning at him as he leaned against a post.

"Hey."

"What do you want, Uchiha?" Naruto really can't handle being around Sasuke for more than like, .5 seconds.

"To see you," Sasuke said as if Naruto had asked him what 1+1 was.

"I told you, we can't—I'm not—"

"I know," Sasuke held up his hands. "I haven't forgotten, and I respect that, but I'm not giving up on you—not this time. Actually," Sasuke's grin stretched a little more across his face, "I came here to tell you that I plan to make you fall in love with me."

Naruto just stared at Sasuke, long and hard, before he barked out a laugh. "Oh my God, what are you? A shoujo character? Can you  _not_?"

It was even more hilarious when Naruto caught a blush creep around Sasuke's ears. Fucking hell this was pure gold! "Don't laugh—I'm serious. I want you." And then the gold turned to ash. Suddenly Sasuke was standing in Naruto's space and their noses were almost touching. "All of you. Every last bit of you."

Once again Naruto felt the breath being stolen right from his lungs. He could never think properly when Sasuke was this close. Close that he could hear the faint thumping of Sasuke's heartbeat. Close enough that he could hear every nerve frying in the raven's head. So damn close that Naruto felt the anxiety creeping underneath Sasuke's skin.  _Too damn close_ , in his opinion.

He couldn't stop himself from reaching out, to touch what was so tantalizingly before him. Before he could register what he was doing, Naruto found his fingers clutching to Sasuke's shirt, pulling him in so close their eyelashes brushed against one another.

"What's happening to me?" Naruto whispered, voice hoarse. He felt Sasuke's breath ghost across his skin and  _good Lord_ did that make Naruto shiver.

Sasuke sighed and whispered in Naruto's ear. "This weekend, don't make any plans." Then he stepped back, breaking the daze of want and pleasure that had clouded Naruto's mind. Naruto took two steps back to mirror Sasuke's one step.

"I'll do whatever I damn please, Uchiha," Naruto could think clearly now.  _I hate him_ , he thought, wishing that Sasuke's mere presence alone didn't have such power over him.

"No you don't."

"What?" Naruto blinked, confusion etched in his face. "Can you— _did you just read my mind_?"

"Maybe," Sasuke hummed.

"Fuck this. Fuck this to hell and back. No. I'm done. I'm not dealing with you anymore. I'll definite be having plans this weekend!"

Sasuke grinned "With me."

"No. Not with you."

"We'll see," Sasuke said before he turned on his heel and walked away.

Naruto's fists shook as he yelled after Sasuke. "DON'T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME. OI, DON'T WAVE AT ME LIKE THAT EITHER. YOU'RE NOT COOL."

/

 

Golden eyes watched the scene unfold from the safety of the shadows. Pale lips turned into a sneer as the snake coiled around his neck relayed the conversation back to him. His last plan had failed. The boy still lived and Sasuke was no closer to his grasp than he was centuries ago. But he would not miss again. Not this time.

/

 

Naruto walked out of his physics test the next day feeling like he was one of the walking dead. His brain was totally fried and he wanted to eat brains. Relief washed through him as he stumbled upon his friends chilling out in the quad. It was the usual crew plus a Kiba today, which was awesome because being around Kiba always hyped Naruto up.

He nearly passed out once he got there, choosing to rest his head on Gaara's lap. He was about to start complaining about how the test had did him dirty when he realized that there was an extra person there.

"Oi!" Naruto shot up like a rocket. He pointed a finger Uchiha's way. "What are  _you_ doing here?"

"Dude refused to move," Kiba explained. Well then, okay. No, not okay. The three-way love triangle between Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto had become more real right now than Naruto wanted to admit. He kept shooting glances at Sakura who kept shooting glances at Sasuke who kept shooting glances at Naruto.

Actually, it was more like, Sasuke was critiquing everything Naruto was doing down to the meager lunch of Cup-O-Ramen he was eating. Hey, he didn't have time to do lunch because he was getting done dirty by the test.

"Stop momming me, man!" Naruto said, pushing Sasuke's shoulder away so he could eat his meal.

Everyone, not including Naruto and Sasuke, both exchanged glances that screamed 'What the hell?'

Gaara shook his head when everyone's gaze turned to him, saying 'Don't look at me. Hell if I know'.

" _ **You should learn how to cool your temper."**_

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Sasuke speak in his head. He frowned and sent back,  _ **"You should learn how to get the fuck out. This is so violating, like, 20 privacy laws."**_

" _ **Only 20? Huh, I'm slacking."**_

Naruto frown deepened. So he slid his hand under his shirt, all the way up to the neck, to reveal his middle finger popping out from the opening.  _ **"Tel me if you know what this means without reading my mind."**_

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's very childish behavior. "Fine. See if your notebook gets filled after English today."

Gaara cocked an eyebrow. Sakura and Ino shared confused looks. Naruto started stuttering like an idiot.

And Kiba went "FUCK THAT WAS YOU?" before he turned to Naruto to punch him on the shoulder. "Dude, you told me this guy was an asshole! Assholes don't take notes for you. Oi, Uchiha, wanna hit me up with some notes too?"

"We don't have any classes together, Inuzuka."

"So?" Kiba scoffed.

"Besides it was a," Sasuke cut a glance towards Naruto, "special occasion."

Naruto felt another terrible blush crawl up the back of his neck. He knew what Sasuke meant by special, and he was trying really hard to ignore the voice in this head that kept saying  _you're special, you're special, you're special._

Thank God Sasuke had to leave now since he had class soon. Naruto was about to start World War III just to get Sasuke to go the fuck away. He waved goodbye and everyone was a mixture of pleased, confused, suspicious, or raving mad. Guess which one Naruto was.

"When did you two get so close?" Sakura asked after Sasuke had left.

At the same time Ino said, "Damn he's even cuter up close." The two girls looked at one another before they broke up into cackles.

"We're not close!" Naruto growled out. Mentally he screamed,  **"** _ **I HATE YOU"**_  hoping that Sasuke would hear him.

It took a few minutes but finally he got a response back.

" _ **No you don't."**_ Was Sasuke's chill response. Naruto dropped his head in his hands and tried not to break into hysterics again. What had his life become?


	5. Tied Knots

It was finally Friday. One day before  _the weekend._ Naruto finished soccer practice about fifteen minutes ago, but rather than packing up with the rest of the team he stayed back to work on some self-made drills. He mostly wanted some time to himself. Time to organize his thoughts that were more like tangled, frazzled knots than cohesive and connected dots.

Most of his thoughts centered around one being: Sasuke Uchiha. Lately Sasuke was  _always_ on his mind. Not in an 'Oh God I can't stop thinking about this guy' but more of a 'Oh God this guy is everywhere'. Sasuke had managed to worm his way into Naruto's little friend group without even batting an eye. Kiba practically worshiped the ground he walked on. Sakura was actually on good terms with Sasuke, believe it or not. Ino and Sasuke had very similar tastes when it came to fashion, which was weird as  _fuck_ to see Ino and Sasuke debate about the social impacts Dolce & Gabbana had on the world. Even Gaara had this cool indifference about him whenever Sasuke was around.

It was kind of infuriating to see how easily Sasuke made a place for himself in his life. Further proving the whole 'soul mates' idea that, apparently, was the term being applied when it came to their budding—if only in the aspect that Naruto didn't hate Sasuke as much as he thought he had—relationship. Because a soul mate should, in theory, represent the missing gear that can easily be slipped back into its spot. The soul mate was the missing puzzle piece you searched all over your house for so you can finish your 3000-piece puzzle of the solar system.

They fit because it was where they belonged—in your life. Without them you simply walked through life always aware of the emptiness of the missing gear or the missing puzzle piece. Well, that's how Naruto had summarized the idea of soul mates. He still had no idea if that was even close. But he supposed if Zeus was real and he did do the whole 'LOL let me make you suffer and search for your lover because I can' then his idea sort of made sense.

As he dumped out a bag of soccer balls to practice his shooting, Naruto thought back on how thorough Sasuke had been in his apparent schemes to make Naruto 'fall in love with him'. For lunch, Sasuke always had a box of Naruto's favorites. A maddening feat because Naruto never told Sasuke anything about his personal interests, tastes, habits, or love for chocolate chip cookies that were warm and gooey; made right from the oven. But Lord help him if Sasuke didn't come in on the second day with cookies made just the way Naruto liked them.

"Cookies won't win me over," Naruto had sniffed.

Sasuke snorted, "If you were that easy this wouldn't be any fun."

To which Naruto had exploded with a, "OH SO NOW IT'S A GAME?! DAMN YOU, UCHIHA, I WON'T MAKE THIS EASY." But he still had taken five cookies with him, ate them love, and fell in love with every bite.

Then he thought,  _You know, I could play along just for the free food._ Sasuke was proving to be a hella good cook and Naruto couldn't cook for shit—apparently that trait had skipped this reincarnation—so there was a plus. However, right now he wasn't playing along yet he still got free food, so he shot that idea down as quickly as it came.

Naruto bent down and picked up a soccer ball. He rolled it around between his hands before he dropped it onto his knees, bouncing it back and forth from knee to knee. It was weird, you know? He was aware of almost everything. Everything being his past lives, the truth about Sasuke, and the apparent threat on his life that refused to give up even after centuries of succession. Naruto still dreamt about his past self every night since Saturday, the day Sasuke pulled back the curtains to the shit show.

He saw tiny fragments and yeah, he knew what was going on but he was still waiting for that epiphany moment. Right now he felt like he was watching a movie starring himself and this dude he happened to bang on screen. Rather than feeling as if this was a part of him, a memory that was hiding with the skeletons in his closet, it was more of a 'wow this really gets to me but after I leave the theatre I still feel the same'.

Which consequently got Naruto thinking of if he'd ever reach that epiphany. If this whole soul mate business with the dreams was going to end with two halves making a whole or two polar opposites knowing the other exists but never touching. And such thoughts lead to Naruto's  _latest_ dilemma. The same dilemma honestly but now more pressing since Saturday was tomorrow—because we all know what comes after Friday—and Sasuke still seemed pretty hell bent on scoring a date with Naruto.

Naruto never had someone work so hard for his affections, before. Okay yeah technically the same scenario had to have happened before in his past lives but he still felt disconnected between the Narutos before him and now. The current Naruto didn't know  _how_ to feel about Sasuke. Didn't know whether the erratic thumping of his heart and the heat that devours his neck and ears was because he  _liked_ Sasuke or simply felt uncomfortable around him. Naruto didn't want to do things halfheartedly, soul mates be damned. He knew what it felt like to be rejected by the person you like, and even if Sasuke bothered him to no end, he'd never put him through that.

"Why am I such a nice guy?" Naruto muttered, dribbling up to the PK line. He stepped on the soccer ball with his foot, inhaled, and then took a few steps back. On the exhale, he ran and delivered a powerful shot to the top left corner of the goal. In a game where he was going against a goalie that would have been a game-winning goal for sure.

"Nice shot," he heard someone say behind him.

Naruto's bones nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned to find a rather attractive woman with pale skin and long black hair pulled into a tight ponytail looking at him. Golden eyes clashed with blue, causing a deep chill to run down his spine.

"Uh… thanks?" When had she gotten here? And why were his nerves so sporadic right now?

"Sorry," the woman talked in a constant purr, lips pulled into a half-grin. "I was looking for the admissions office and got a little… lost. Mind directing me to where it is?"

"Yeah, sure it's uh… just up the hill." Naruto pointed into the general direction of the building. "Then make a left by the giant statue. You won't miss it." He hoped that would be all and she didn't ask him to personally escort her to admissions. He'd probably die from the overload with his nerves.

The woman smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Thank you, Uzumaki-san." She gave a slight wave before she headed towards the direction Naruto pointed out.

"W-Wait!" Naruto called out. "How do you know my name?" He definitely hadn't introduced himself to her and now the warning bells were going off like crazy in his head.

The woman slightly turned her head, her golden eyes glittering. "I know the names of all my future students," there was an air of mystery to her words as she headed up the hill and out of sight.

Naruto stood rooted to the spot for another minute, the sensation of eyes boring into him left him chilled to the bone. "I need to get out of here," he muttered, gathering up his stuff and heading for the locker rooms to wash off the weirdness.

/

 

Never doubt the power of a good shower. Fifteen minutes later, after Naruto felt confident he didn't smell like dying cow, he was finished with his shower and stepped out of the stall with a white towel wrapped around his waist. He headed over for his stuff, only to stop short when he found Sasuke already there.

Sasuke sat on the bench with his legs crossed, playing around with his phone.

Naruto nearly jumped out of his skin. "WHAT THE FUCK?"

"Oh, you're done?" Sasuke glanced up from his phone. "Nice singing voice, by the way. Sometimes you don't get to keep your soft tenor in your reincarnations."

"Okay first of all I sang for you  _one time_ —"

Sasuke smirked, "In Paris. Very romantic."

"— _And_ that was when I was really, really drunk!" He saw the scene painted clearly in his head. He was singing a lullaby in Sasuke's ear as the demigod slept in his lap. They were sitting on Naruto's veranda. Then they fucked. Then again when didn't they fuck in Naruto's dreams?

The following morning Naruto had personally sought Sasuke out so he could punch him in the arm. Which he did right before class started. He felt pretty satisfied with himself afterwards.

"Anyway," Naruto slid on his boxers underneath his towel, not in the mood to give Sasuke any type of show. "You still haven't explained why you're here—or how I didn't even hear you come in."

Sasuke ignored the last part, much to Naruto's irritation, and said, "I wanted to walk home with you. Is that okay?"

Naruto was already dressed, stuffing his towel into his duffel bag. He had half a mind to say no but instead he sighed. "You'd follow me home anyways," he said with certainty. If there was one thing he learned about Sasuke in the past couple of weeks was that he was a very determined bastard when he set his mind to something.

He also knew Sasuke had done this before. Shoved his presence into Naruto's face until he had to take notice. Multiple times. Multiple past lives.

"You know me so well," Sasuke got up to follow Naruto out of the locker room.

"Shut up."

For a minute he thought about telling Sasuke what happened down at the soccer field. How he got the heebie jeebies from that woman earlier but decided against it. He never liked it when people surprised him out of nowhere, so he equated his frying nerves to his body trying to calm down from the shock. Naruto figured that the less emphasis he put on the threat, the less real it became.

/

 

"Why are you still here?" Naruto fished for his key out of his duffle bag while Sasuke hovered. He always damned  _hovered._

"I'm walking you home."

"Yeah, and I'm home. So like—"

Sasuke's voice was suddenly really close to Naruto's ear. "I have an ulterior motive," he rasped.

Shivers danced down Naruto's spine. "You  _don't say_."

"Let me see what your apartment looks like." Oh, that was it? Well then that could easily be done.

"Well from the outside you can see a door and a little mailbox and a—"

Suddenly he felt Sasuke's chest against his back and he was immediately drowned in the scent of cinnamon and vanilla and was that fucking grapefruit too? "If you don't let me in I'll manhandle you in public."

"Oh what, Uchiha, you've never seen my apartment before?" Naruto found his keys rather quickly and jammed them into the door. He basically kicked it down before stepping inside. "Well don't be shy! Come on in, you limp noodle!" Naruto could feel the brush creeping along his neck, and he didn't even have to look behind him to know that Sasuke was probably smirking his head off.

The asshole.

He stepped on an empty ramen cup. One of the many ramen cups laying on the floor that Naruto had forgotten to clean up. What? Soccer practice was getting more and more torturous as the big semi-finals game was coming up. He didn't have enough time to keep his tiny little apartment clean. He found that he also had a lot of pants and clothes discarded all over the floor. When Sasuke shot him a questioning look Naruto just shrugged.

"Too lazy to make it to my room." He bent down to pick up the cup at his feet and throw it out. "Sorry it's kinda… messy."

"No worries. I like it. It's you." There was a reminiscent smile on Sasuke's face. The one he got whenever he was remembering the past. It was also the same look that spawned the  _'Oh God stop'_ response in Naruto's head.

"Guessing my past selves were also pigs," Naruto joked as he continued to clean up the room.

"I expected nothing less if that helps," Sasuke gave the room a glance, taking everything into memory, no doubt. Naruto wished Sasuke wasn't the thorough type when it came to these things.

He rolled his eyes and picked up the last piece of discarded clothing, moving them all to a little pile in the corner. He could deal with those later. Since he was apparently housing a guest—because Sasuke had not made any moves to leave—Naruto decided he'd be a good host and go get some drinks. He came back a few seconds later with some soda, only to stop dead in his tracks.

"Dude, man, what the fuck?  _Privacy laws!_ "

Sasuke doesn't stop reading; hell he probably didn't even  _care._ He turned the page in Naruto's photo album, lips pulled into a half smirk.

Hissing, Naruto went over and grabbed the album out of Sasuke's hands. Of course Sasuke had to find the family album.  _Of course._

"Dead, alive, or out of contact?"

Naruto's head snapped up from the question. He knew what Sasuke was referring to and surprisingly the answer came out of his mouth much easier than expected. "Dead. She died when I was three. Just me and dad now."

Sasuke mumbled something along the lines of 'uncommon scenario'. Naruto scowled, putting back the album he was holding onto. Even though Sasuke had apparently moved onto the next one.

"So you gonna tell me why you were going through my albums?"

Sasuke glances up from the second album. Blue eyes are narrowed in a not-so-amused glare. A glare Sasuke easily returned with a smile.

"I wanted a glimpse of what you're like."

Naruto snorted, "So you chose to go all stalker and go through my shit. Wow, Uchiha, really earning those brownie points."

"I'm serious about this, Naruto. I want to get to know you— _this you_."

"Well shit apparently that's not so hard since you've met me like, a dozen times." Fucking A why did he his cheeks feel so hot right now? Why the hell did Sasuke have to deliver such fucking  _romantic_ lines with a straight face? It wasn't damn fair.

"No," Sasuke shook his head, closing the album. "It's different every time. Slightly, there were things about you that changed with every reincarnation. Sometimes you can sing, sometimes you can't. Sometimes you had whiskered cheeks, other times you didn't. One life you  _hated_ ramen, now look at you."

Sasuke pointed at the trashcan overflowing with ramen cups and Naruto wanted to crawl into a hole—or twelve.

"Each life I've been blessed by the gods to see you in was like finding another puzzle piece that added up to one final picture—you."

There it is again. Puzzle pieces, the idea of things falling into place,  _soul mates._ Naruto felt a chill in his bones and his soul once again cried out for Sasuke. Naruto had to learn how to shut that up. The urge to pass out came and went. As well as the urge to kiss Sasuke right there and then. It was an overwhelming sensation that he ignored by picking up the albums and putting them back where they belonged.

"Can see why my past lives fell for you. Fucking spewing bullshit like Romeo," Naruto murmured. The back of his neck was a frenzied red flush.

"It's more than that—"

"If you say it's because we're soul mates I'll roundhouse kick you."

"No, I was going to say my good looks helped a lot. Charm was just a plus."

Naruto looked over his shoulder, "I really hate you."

"No you don't," Sasuke grinned. There was still one more album left—how Naruto missed it he would never know. But it was the by far the most embarrassing one in the bunch. "Huh, so this life you kept the three moles on your inner thigh. Cute."

Now the flush had covered his entire face. He stomped over, yanked the album out of Sasuke's hands, and screamed, "HEY DON'T GO THORUGH MY BABY ALBUM."

Soon the two got into an all out brawl over the album. Somehow by the end of it all Naruto's shirt was halfway down his shoulder and Sasuke's hair was a complete mess. But they were both laying on the floor with their hands on their stomachs as they laughed their asses off. Then the doorbell rang so Naruto got up to get the door.

"I leave you alone for a few hours and you look like hell," Gaara said at the same time Kiba pushed through and screamed, "NARUTO ARE YOU HAVING A PARTY WITHOUT ME?"

Naruto quickly pulled his shirt back up his shoulder, running a hand through his hair. "No, no party Kiba. And Gaara you know I'm lost without you but you keep pushing me away— _mixed signals_."

"Sadistic streak, I'm telling ya," Kiba whispered conspiratorially.

"So who's here?" Gaara asked.

"Me," Sasuke appeared out of fucking nowhere. His hand rested on the small of Naruto's back. A gesture Naruto had quickly come to realize Sasuke did as a subtle sign of possession. He did it a lot when they were around their friends, and sometimes Naruto thought Sasuke did it just to irk him.

Gaara's eyebrow is cocked Naruto's way mentally sending a  _WTF._ To which Naruto replied with a shrug like  _'I tried to stop him'_. Meanwhile Kiba's was starting up a shit show saying how Naruto was having a party and he was a dirty liar for keeping that from him.

Now it was the four of them all in Naruto's apartment. Kiba had brought his chem homework over and was on the verge of tears.

"You know I suck at chem!" Naruto said. "I barely scraped by with a D+ last semester. I'm no help to you, man."

"I'm going to die, Naruto!" Kiba wailed. "We're having a test next week and if I don't get at  _least_ a B+ I'll be suspended from the team! The big game's coming up—I can't be kicked off."

"I could help," all heads turned to Sasuke who was casually leaning against the couch. Everyone was pretty surprised—including Naruto. Nice Sasuke  _rarely_ happened without a reason.

" _ **Don't be surprised. I'm doing this to get on your good side."**_

There's the punch line.  _ **"Shouldn't you like not be telling me that?"**_

" _ **No. I like being honest with you. And you do too. That's a trait that was never lost in your reincarnations."**_

What was that loud pounding in his eardrums? Oh wait, that was his heartbeat. Fucking  _hell._ Naruto shot up like a rocket and made a beeline for the kitchen. Sasuke could probably hear her heartbeat, could probably sense his nervousness so he  _had_ to get out of there.

Naruto went to the sink and turned on the water. Washing the dishes had become a mind-numbing task he used to clear his thoughts. Gaara came up to him, rolling up his sleeves. He grabbed a plate and silently started to work with Naruto.

Until finally Gaara asked what was going on.

Naruto gulped. "Oh well you see Kiba can't chem to save his life and—"

"You know what I mean."

Silence fell once more, then Naruto asked. "What do you think about like… soul mates… and stuff?"

Gaara cocked an eyebrow. "Do you want a real answer?"

"I'd like one, yeah."

"Well, I believe there's some truth in it. Some people were born to together—simple as that. Maybe there's a greater design at work here, or maybe it's just coincidence, but at the end of the day if you're hell bent on finding that  _one person_ you'll end up missing a lot on what life has to offer." A pause, and then, "Is this about Uchiha?"

Naruto nearly dropped the plate into the sink. "N-No! It's uh, a topic we're discussing in Kakashi's class and, I dunno, with everything's that's happened I was thinking about it and… stuff."

He knew Gaara could tell he was bullshitting hardcore, but when Gaara doesn't push it Naruto exhales a heavy breath.

Instead, Gaara reached out and ruffled Naruto's hair. "You're an idiot, Naruto. But you're not a bad guy. You'll find someone."

"Excuse you," Naruto sniffed. "I'm a hella rad guy. Don't knock me down a few pegs."

Gaara scoffed and flicked water at Naruto. Of course, Naruto had to retaliate and then they were having a mini water fight in his kitchen. Sasuke walked in a few minutes into their fight and Naruto could practically  _feel_ the jealousy through their connection. Gaara and Naruto exchanged similar glances with one another before they both broke into laughter.

When they came back Kiba jumped up and threw his hands in the air. "Guys Sasuke's a genius! He taught me so much shit! Did you know an atom is made up of protons and neutrons and this shit called electrons? Holy fucking shit my mind's  _blown._ "

Gaara turned to Sasuke and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know how you handled him."

"It took a lot of colorful pictures and baby steps."

They both share a look, one that goes unnoticed by Naruto. But as quickly as it came, it went and soon Sasuke was hounding Naruto to finish the tour. Naruto had to remind Sasuke that there never was a tour in the first place. Nor was he supposed to stay this long either.

Kiba slapped his hands on the coffee table. "We should just have a mega sleepover tonight!" He suggested, waggling his eyebrows. "I already have what every sleepover needs— _alcohol_."

"You're an alcoholic," Gaara said.

"No that's only after college."

Despite his best efforts it's 3 against 1 so Naruto relented with a wave of his hand. "Okay fine. But if you trash my house like last time I'm making you sleep outside," he sent a pointed look Kiba's way. Kiba flashed him his biggest puppy dog eyes.

Now he was having a four-person sleepover. He should have seen it coming, honestly. It happened at least once a month—especially when Kiba was around. Gaara's spot was the couch while Naruto scrounged up some extra pillows and threw them at Kiba. Kiba had taken the pillows and constructed himself a very decent pillow fort on the floor.

Only problem…

"I suppose asking to sleep with you is out of the question." Sasuke said.

Naruto barked out a laugh, "You're learning, Uchiha."

"Then I'll sleep on the floor, too."

"With Kiba?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "No. In your room." He headed for the door to Naruto's room, only to be stopped when Naruto grabbed him by the arm.

"You're taking a lot of liberties, Uchiha." Naruto growled.

"You're not telling me no, Naruto."

That caused Naruto take a pause. Sasuke had a point. He hadn't said no mostly because he could never work up the nerve to  _say no._ If he were being honest with himself, the thought of Sasuke curled around him under a shit ton of blankets wasn't the worst idea he's ever had. He just didn't want to give in too easily—shocker, right?

Sasuke turned around in Naruto's grip. His hands rose to cup Naruto's face, his thumb stroking Naruto's cheek. "I'm a very forward person, Naruto, but I'm not going to do something you really don't want me to. Tell me no, and I'll back off tonight."

 _Tonight_. Not tomorrow, or the next day, or any other day after this for that matter.

Naruto swallowed past the lump in his throat and nodded. Sasuke gave a tiny smile before he stepped back and headed into the bedroom to set up camp for the night.

Fucking hell Sasuke won  _again._

/

 

Naruto checked his phone and groaned. "Great."

It was four in the morning and he found sleep to be elusive. Though not getting any sleep had become a daily thing for the blond. His nerves were simply frying having Sasuke in his room, so close. His body continuously screamed to reach out and touch and hold and feel Sasuke. The need was so strong Naruto had to get out of bed and put some distance between them. He knew soon enough Sasuke would be out here looking for him, sensing his distress, so Naruto was going to soak up a few minutes of alone time.

Phone in hand, Naruto pulls up Sakura's number and shoots her a text.

 _Naruto: u awake?_ He's not expecting a response from her but a few minutes later Sakura texted back.

_Sakura: Yeah I'm pulling an all nighter. Sup?_

_Naruto: can I call u really quick?_

Sakura beat him to the punch, calling him two seconds after he sent off the text.

"What's up?" Sakura asked.

Naruto looked off his balcony, worrying his bottom lip. He suddenly wanted to ask a question that had been bouncing around his head lately, but didn't know how to phrase it. The silence on the other end was Sakura's way of telling Naruto to get on with it. Finally, he sighed and leaned forward against the balcony.

"How'd you know that I wasn't… you know… in love with you?"

A pregnant pause descended and Naruto wanted to kick himself for digging through his skeletons. He expected Sakura to tear him a new one but instead he got a rather complacent response.

"I could… feel it, you know? When you're in love with a person you can feel it's both ways. You have this constant need to be with them, and you just feel, I don't know, complete? Just having them by your side. I didn't feel that way with you. And I knew you didn't feel that way with me, either."

She sighed and Naruto could picture her sitting by her desk in her room. Her pink hair pulled back in tiny pigtails and her bangs pulled back with clips so they wouldn't get into her eyes. She probably had five cups of coffee on her desk cluttered with notes. Naruto smiled ruefully at the image, knowing he was probably spot on.

"You had a faraway look in your eyes whenever we kissed or had sex," Sakura continued. "Like… like you weren't really  _looking_ at me. I don't think you've ever noticed it."

He expected her words to be delivered with the force of a sledgehammer to his skull. Yet Naruto's reaction was rather indifferent. More of an 'Oh, right' then a 'Oh shit'. She was right, of course. That he never had felt as strongly as he liked to portray to the world. It was something he had mulled over for a while, and he only asked Sakura to see if their conclusions matched.

Naruto had looked back on their relationship. All the arguments they shared compared to all the tender moments they experienced. Yeah he had totally been into her; there was no doubt it. But if he were in  _love_ with Sakura, he could never have moved on so quickly. Hearing Sakura reaffirm his suspicions was an ironic sense of comfort. He also concluded, and this was something he kept to himself for sanity's sake, that he used Sakura to fill this hole of incompleteness he always felt but never wished to address.

She was a nice distraction and, for a while, he could fool himself into thinking he loved her. But  _apparently_ the whole soul mate business wiped out any chances of that ever happening.

"Then, how do you know when you're in love with someone?" Since he had been forging love for the past 18 years, he'd at least wanted some info so when he dealt with Sasuke he didn't feel trapped in a whirlwind.

He could practically hear her eyes rolling. "I'm no expert in love, Naruto."

"I know. So spew some romantic bullshit that'll make me happy."

"Fine let me pull up a quote from Tumblr."

"Sakura!"

"What? Look, Naruto. People feel love differently. For me… I don't know. I'd say you're in love when you have only one person you think about day and night. And you'll like, notice the little things they do and smile. You'll notice the big things they do and fall in love with them even more."

"Sounds stalkerish."

Sakura laughed. There was some shifting in the background before she finally asked. "So what's the reason for calling me at like, 4 in the morning? Did you fall in love?"

"No!"  _Not yet_ is added on silently and he slapped it down hella fast.

"You knooow," Sakura sang, "Sasuke's being hanging around us a lot. I thought it'd be awkward but he's actually a nice guy. But…"

"But what?" Naruto could hear his heart rate kicking up a few notches.

"I think he likes you."

Naruto pretended to choke because really she was spot on. Though he was prone to think of it more as a  _star-crossed love affair he was forced to go along with._

"W-What?" Naruto sputtered. "Sakura you're crazy!"

"Ino told me the same thing!" Sakura said. "But listen! Sasuke treats you differently. Like when I was trying to get with him he was really cold and distant. And I mean now, we can have a decent convo without things being all weird but that's about it. When he's with  _you_  his coldness kinda… melts away. Hell I even saw him  _smile._ I didn't think his facial muscles were capable of that."

Naruto was caught being hysterical laughing and hysterical crying. Sasuke would be in a fit if someone—especially Sakura—saw that side of him that he usually reserved for Naruto. Such a thought only proved Sakura's point. That Sasuke's behavior towards him was more than favoritism, it was love—and if Sakura noticed it, then who else saw it that way?

"You're out of your mind," Naruto said, drumming his fingers against the railing.

"Ino said that too but  _then_ she said she kinda saw it too but she equated it to a batman-robin dynamic."

"Uh—"

"Just, I know it sounds crazy but I can  _see_ you two together. It's weird but, I don't know, I see the connection between you that you and I didn't have. Even if you give him hell for no good reason all the time." Sakura smirked over the phone.

"I have a damn good reason for giving him hell all the time!" If you asked him now he'd probably have to get back to you on that but  _he had reasons._

"Yeah, okay." Sakura snorted. "Anyways, think about it. I gotta go finish studying and crying at the same time. I'll see you tomorrow!"

Naruto hit the 'END' button and dropped his head to the railing, exhaling a sigh. Well then, that was rather… eye opening. Kinda. He tried to put everything back into prospective once more. Approximately six days had passed since  _the big reveal_ , as Naruto sarcastically called it. It was enough time by Naruto's standards to accept everything. The concept of soul mates still irked him because he felt like the universe was forcing him to fall in love rather than it happening naturally. But there was a physical and emotional pull he felt towards Sasuke every time the raven was around that he couldn't really deny, just ignore until the pull became too much to bear.

He was being stubborn to irk Sasuke. To push and push and see how long he'd stay. Part of it was, obviously, revenge for leaving him—well, his past selves which  _were him_ but weren't him at the same time. A sick part of him wanted to see Sasuke work for it. Wanted to see the actions put behind the words and promises of him staying around for the long run this time.

His past lives were still pretty salty over being left for x amount of years.

Also the whole idea of soul mates was just fucking scary. Which was why he kept asking for opinions. He wanted to know if he was the only one terrified of the thought that you were made specifically for someone. And now that he realized he never  _was_ in love, he was fucking clueless about how he would even know if Sasuke was 'the one'. He went his whole life thinking that was Sakura but nope, it wasn't. Because apparently that spot was reserved for Sasuke. He's terrified that he won't be enough. That he can't fill the shoes of tens and thousands of Narutos that came before him.

Sasuke said he wanted to get to know him,  _this Naruto_ , but Naruto couldn't help but be cynical that Sasuke would always be constantly comparing him to the others. In return, Naruto found himself comparing himself to the Naruto he saw in his dreams. How they loved Sasuke unconditionally and made the relationship a give and take, a push and pull, both equals despite Sasuke's apparent half-god status.

His fingers gripped onto the railing of the balcony, the knuckles turning white. He wanted to give Sasuke a chance. He really, truly, did. He wasn't opposed to the idea of giving it a try—mostly because constantly fighting with himself about what he wanted and didn't want was becoming tiring—and if Sasuke  _did_ stay then he'd have nothing to worry about…

Didn't mean the idea of falling in love still didn't terrify the fuck out of Naruto.

He felt Sasuke's presence behind him, and a flittering thought came into mind about how much stronger the bond between them would go.

"Sorry, I woke up and I didn't…" Sasuke stopped, eyes glancing off to the left. Naruto felt his worry and his fear. Fear that Naruto was gone for good. It was heartwarming, and a little disgusting because dude  _chill_ , but heartwarming won out over all.

Naruto playfully rolled his eyes, turning around so he could fully face Sasuke. "You're such a mom," he teased.

"Shut up," Sasuke scowled, but his eyes were dancing with amusement.

Naruto laughed and pushed off the railing. He walked towards Sasuke and patted his hand on the other's shoulder. "I'm okay, see? Just needed a little breather. Now let's go, it's bedtime for us."

Sasuke reluctantly let Naruto lead him inside. They're back in Naruto's room and as Naruto climbed into bed, Sasuke asked, "What was that all about?"

"What's what all about?"

"The phone call."

Oh, he heard that. Naruto shrugged, "Monthly prank call. I pick one professor and prank them for shits and giggles." Which was actually true but that wasn't the subject of the phone call tonight. Sasuke stared at him, long and hard, and Naruto knew the raven didn't believe him. But he didn't push, which made Naruto incredibly grateful.

There's a silence between them. Both men lay on the on either the bed or the floor with eyes staring up at the ceiling.

"Soo… tomorrow," Naruto hummed. "It's Saturday."

"Right." Sasuke said.

"And I have plans."

There was a pause, and Naruto could hear the tiny sharp intake of breath Sasuke took.

Naruto's face hurt from how much he was smiling. "Let me finish, man. So yeah I have these plans with this douche named Sasuke. He literally won't leave me alone so I'm saying yes only to humor him." Naruto rolled over so he was leaning over the bed, his goofy smile dominating half his face. "What do you think I should do?"

Sasuke blinked, taking a while to process what was going on. Then he smirked. "I think you should do it. To humor him of course."

Naruto smirked back, "Of course."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos, bookmarks, and comments! I really enjoy all the positive feedback I've got on this story and it gets me hella excited to write more. So thank you for sticking with me this long (:


	6. Failed Expectations

The battle this time around was ravage. They went in with 50,000 abled body men and walked away from the war with little under 1000. Sasuke was one of the lucky ones. He came back battered and bruised, a broken arm hung in a sling, but he was alive. Good Zeus he was  _alive._

They had won, praise the gods, but the truest victory would be when Sasuke returned home into Naruto's arms. Arms that would hold him tight as Naruto berated him for coming home bloodstained again. Then Sasuke would smirk and convince Naruto that he would need help cleaning now that he was down an arm. Naruto would blush, and Sasuke would silently swoon because dear  _heavens_  Naruto's blush was a sight to see, and mumble something about him being a 'pervert'. They'd bathe together, though, and Sasuke would relish every wonderful moment they had together.

He was alive, dammit, and he was going  _home._

The minute the battle was over, Sasuke climbed onto his Pegasus and flew home. Fuck horses, really, and Ares owed him a favor so Sasuke was going to abuse that as long as he could. The trip home did nothing to calm his fraying nerves. A foreboding cloud at the back of his mind was gnawing on his thoughts. He blamed it on the adrenaline rush still flowing through his system. As a demigod he lived off the thrill of battle. Eternally relished the slicing of a blade through an enemy's body.

Morbid, but you couldn't fight what you were born to do—and for Sasuke, he was born to fight.

"Faster," he commanded his Pegasus, and his steed took flight.

He arrived home in a matter of minutes. Sasuke dismounted from his ride, brushing off any lingering dirt from his clothes. He ran a hand through his hair and silently cursed that he couldn't check himself out properly with a mirror. Well, whatever, he was home. The lights were still on, and Sasuke couldn't help the smile that threatened to rip off half his face.

The lights were on, that means Naruto had stayed up waiting for him.

"That idiot. I told him he should sleep," but Sasuke was so incredibly happy to know Naruto went against him—as if this was the first time Naruto challenged Sasuke's advice.

He opened the door and the smell of blood hit his nostrils. His instincts were on sharp alert, and his eyes fell on the trail of blood that was scattered along the floor. His breath caught in his throat.  _Naruto!_ He dashed through the house, coming to the living room where he saw Naruto sitting on a rocking chair, back turned to Sasuke.

Sasuke's nerves were exploding one by one as he ran around… only to find Naruto sitting in the chair, eyes glassy, and a huge slit running across his chest. His clothes were stained with blood.

Sasuke dropped to the floor. He opened his mouth and a painful howl jumped out of his throat. That was when Naruto awoke. Sweat stained the front of his shirt. His heart pounded loudly against his ribcage. He was no longer on the bed, either, but tangled up on the floor with Sasuke. How the fuck had  _that_ happened?

His hands immediately went to his shirt, sighing in relief when there was no blood. His head was still on his shoulders too. Thank God, because waking up headless was not how Naruto ever wanted to start out a Saturday morning. He felt eyes on him, and he glanced down to find Sasuke awake, looking rather pale.

Naruto opened his mouth then shut it close. The gears were turning, although rather slowly since he just woke up, in his head before he spoke.

"I thought you said you didn't get the dreams." Naruto said, voice hoarse.

"I don't," Sasuke said. "I get nightmares."

/

Due to very poor planning, Naruto found himself sitting on a barstool with his laptop opened in front of him. A very empty Word document mocked him over and over again about how  _not close_ he was to finishing his essay for English was going. Naruto found solace staring into the murky depths of his coffee. Honestly, he couldn't focus on typing anything, let alone drink his coffee, after what happened this morning.

Breakfast was a shit show, as it usually was considering Naruto's life had suddenly turned into a constant one. Naruto had very promptly freaked out over the fact that now he could apparently see  _Sasuke's_ dreams. Not only that, but it was also nerve wracking to see himself dead through Sasuke's point of view.

His hands had been shaking the entire time he was serving breakfast, a nice bowl of cereal. Gaara, ever the observant, had pointed it out and asked Naruto what was wrong. He'd lied and said it was nothing. A lie that Gaara had caught but never pushed to validate, thank God.

Everyone had left right after breakfast. Gaara opted to take Kiba home since Kiba was nursing a ridiculous hangover and unleashing him onto the streets alone would no doubt be a crime upon all humankind. Naruto was glad that he wouldn't have to deal with his hungover friend. He had his own problems to deal with.

Sasuke however, had stayed. Of course he stayed, why  _wouldn't_  he have stayed? For a while, the two had sat in awkward silence. The only sounds heard were the crackling of Rice Krispies in the bowl. Finally, Naruto had broken the silence with a shaky whisper.

"Before this, I would have looked at that dream and gone 'haha no big deal, Naruto. You just ate a bad cup of ramen'. But now… it's like, 'Oh Naruto no big deal except for the fact that you actually  _died_ '."

The nightmare, the memory, the dream, whatever the fuck you wanted to call it, had really shaken Naruto up. Even now as he sat in the coffee shop willing his brain to make words, he couldn't get the sight out of his mind. He was dead. Dead as dead could be. Someone had killed him. Not even that time, but multiple times in probably even more gruesome ways. Seeing it, and experiencing it all through Sasuke's eyes, had really put everything into prospective for Naruto.

Someone, or something, be it the Fates or that Orochimaru dude Sasuke vaguely mentioned a few days ago, wanted Naruto dead. And they had succeeded—multiple times.

His mind flashed back to the woman on the soccer field for a brief second, but he shook his head, erasing the thought. Yeah, she'd given him the creeps, but he definitely didn't get the whole 'she's gonna kill me with her ponytail' vibe.

He sighed, resting his head onto the coffee table. His coffee cup was far from warm by now with all the heavy thinking Naruto was doing. It was weird, you know? He saw everything through Sasuke's eyes last night yet he still woke up with the same overwhelming despair and grief that rocked Sasuke's soul that day.

If Naruto had it his way he'd totally make it so he'd never have to see one of those nightmares again. Knowing his luck, though, that probably wouldn't happen.

Naruto sighed, closing up his laptop. He wasn't going to get any work done with his mind all frazzled. So he packed up his stuff, dumped out his coffee, and headed home. On his walk he thought back to the conversation he had earlier with Sasuke before he left.

They had moved from the breakfast table to the sink to wash the dishes.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." Sasuke had said, hesitantly putting his hand on top of Naruto's—the hand that currently wasn't soapy and wet.

Naruto, surprisingly, hadn't pulled away his hand.

"Try seeing those dreams every night for centuries," Sasuke had continued. "Kinda runs you haggard."

"Excuse me, this is my pity party." Naruto huffed, pulling his hand away. "Come talk to me when  _you_ end up dead 'cause someone hates you enough that they keep killing you off every, damn, life!" He punctuated the last three words with a poke to Sasuke's chest.

"Naruto—" Sasuke had started but Naruto had no intentions of letting him finish. He dropped the last of the plates into the sink and stormed to the living room.

Kiba had made a mess, as usual, of the place so Naruto went around picking up discarded pillows and crushed beer canes.  _Note to self, ban Kiba from alcohol while he's at my house._

All of a sudden he had felt Sasuke pressed up against his back. An electric shock that still tingled through out Naruto's body zipped down his spine. He  _felt it._ Felt the worry and the nervousness dancing through Sasuke's bones. And he felt the strength too. The reassurance that Sasuke wouldn't let him die again. Not now. Not ever.

His body had unconsciously curled into Sasuke's. And Sasuke had kissed him on the back of the neck, causing shivers to dance down Naruto's spine.

"I'll protect you," Sasuke had whispered into the flushing skin.

Naruto had wanted to reply back with a sharp, "Oh, like all those other times?" but he knew that wouldn't have been right. Funny, he could have sworn he knew the  _exact face_  Sasuke would pull if he said those words. And he couldn't handle seeing that look—not at all.

Finally, he had given up, exhaling a sigh. He didn't say a word, simply soaked up Sasuke's presence before he pulled back and told him to leave.

The pout Sasuke had given him was so instagram worthy but Naruto had just ushered him out and told him it was bad luck to see your date before the actual date.

"I thought that only applied to weddings."

"Get the fuck out."

Now Naruto was back home, so lost in his thoughts he hadn't realized that he was standing at the doorstep to his apartment until he ran head first into the door. Totally uncool. Hopefully his neighbors hadn't seen it.

Naruto stepped inside his apartment and checked the time. Their date was apparently at seven. That was what Sasuke had told him before he left. It was only five-thirty. Naruto had asked what the hell they were doing. Sasuke only smiled and left and that smile fucking  _infuriated_ Naruto it was so damn handsome.

"Guess I better get ready." But what the hell was he going to  _wear_? His phone buzzed, thank God. It was from Sasuke.

_Sasuke: I'll pick you up at your house. Don't wear slippers._

_Naruto: WHO THE FUCK WEARS SLIPPERS ON A DATE? IDIOT._

Now he wanted to wear slippers just to spite him, but Naruto decided against it. He was going to give Sasuke a bit of a break today for their date. Only a bit.

/

He got dressed in about an hour, giving Naruto half an hour of dead time. Dead time was, as he was starting to notice, terrible for him because dead time allowed Naruto to start thinking about things. Thinking, thinking, thinking, he's always thinking. Just like earlier when he was thinking what the hell he should wear for this 'date'.

Naruto wracked his brain to see if he could pull up any dirt from the dreams but nope, none of them had given off an inkling of something like this happening before. Which made Naruto think that he probably died before they could ever go out on a proper date—since Sasuke was a demigod constantly whisked away by his father to do demigod things—and that thought had kinda soured his mood.

Always dying. Always him. And Naruto started to wonder why he was even getting himself involved with a guy like Sasuke if death was always looming right around the corner? He wanted to ask Sasuke about the times where they  _hadn't_ met. Didn't fall in love. Had he survived then? And if so, wasn't it a little selfish of Sasuke to suddenly come back now, to keep finding him, even though his presence ultimately made Naruto's death a certainty?

"I need to stop thinking so much," Naruto groaned into the palm of his hand. His mind was warring with his heart at this point. No matter what, the only important thing was that he was with Sasuke again, and not even death should be a big enough reason for them to part. But Naruto was only  _human_ , death was fucking terrifying, and he was still sorting out his feelings for Sasuke. They weren't big enough yet for him to say 'to hell with it' and fall, fall in love and give everything, even his own life, to be with Sasuke.

It was getting there, though. He could feel it. And such a thought terrified him.

Finally he heard a honking outside. Sasuke was here.  _Fucking A._ Time to slap on a smile and act like he hadn't spent the past 30 minutes reevaluating his life choices for the umpteenth time.

"Time to get this shit show on the road," Naruto pocked his wallet, phone, and keys before locking up his apartment and taking the rickety stairs two at a time. He found Sasuke leaning up against a wicked Aston Martin, looking nervous as hell.

It was kind of cute, disgustingly so, that Naruto had to poke fun at it.

"Shut up," Sasuke scowled and Naruto laughed.

"That's the Sasuke I know. Dude, your car though is  _hella_." Naruto let out an appreciative whistle, running his hand along the sleek vehicle. "Do all demigods get this because if so sign me up."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and stepped to open the door for Naruto. "No. We get swords and shields and a pat on the back hoping we don't get eaten by a three-headed dog."

"Okay,  _kinda_ cool. But you should totally ask the gods to throw in this Aston Martin. Good God my eyes are burning just looking at it—it's so beautiful."

"Shut up and get into the car, Naruto."

"Rude! So rude!" Naruto huffed but he slid into the car anyways. His butt automatically felt 100 times more fancy sitting on plush, red leather. Sasuke sat by the driver's seat and turned on the car. It purred,  _literally_ purred to life. Naruto wanted to break down into tears.

Then he saw two pairs of boss shades and immediately got over his moment of weakness. He leaned over and plucked them off the dash, slipping them onto his face.

"Wow, Sasuke. Really going all out here." He pulled down the visor, checking himself out in the little mirror. Oh yeah, he totally rocked the shades. Naruto flashed a cocky grin Sasuke's way. "So you gonna tell me where we're going?"

"No," Sasuke flashed the same cocky grin. He pressed a button and classic rock started to fill the car. Naruto, of course, hated classic rock and fiddled with the radio until the heavy bass of a rap song shook the car. He bobbed his head to the beat, completely ignoring the scowl that dominated Sasuke's face.

The next hour consisted of the two fighting over the radio until Sasuke finally arrived at their destination.

"And another thing—!" They had piled out of the car Naruto was about to go into a rant about the finer machinations of rap music when his eyes caught the scene before him. A gravel walkway surrounded by flowers on either side opened up to a clearing adorned with flowers of every color. There was a huge weeping willow tree in the center, and underneath it was a blanket with plates, knives, and candles set out.

Naruto forgot to breathe for a second. "What… what is this place?"

"You still like gardens, right?"

"No," Naruto said. Sasuke went silent. Naruto gave him a look that clearly said  _are you fucking serious?_ Because he was doing it again, looking at the past him when he should be looking at him, the current Naruto, what he is now.

Okay yeah, maybe Naruto was being a little stupid getting mad because essentially  _it's him._ And people change. Your life was never going to be played out exactly the same, even when you have reincarnations and soul mates and Greek Gods coming into the mix. He never liked gardening, for starters. It reminded him too much of his mom. Now his mood dived from sour to flat out rancid.

In a twisted way, this date sort of reinforced the fact that Sasuke loved  _the past_ , not him.

He translated his mood drop into their date. Even when Sasuke pulled out his favorites—oh wow you got that right Sasuke four for you—Naruto lied through the skin of his teeth and said he hated every last one. It was a foul, dirty move but Naruto was pissed, and a little hurt.

Finally, Sasuke set down the dinner plate and asked, "What the hell's wrong?"

And then Naruto kind of… exploded. "What the hell's wrong? What the  _hell is wrong?_ You come into my life one day and literally rip out everything I thought I knew right out of my hands! We're 'soul mates' you say but it's starting to sound more like you forced it down my throat than it actually being the real deal! And now my life is in danger and I'm supposed to just let you 'protect me'? Bullshit!

You keep looking at me like I'm everything you've wanted but you're not  _really_ looking. You're only concerned about the past Narutos. The Narutos that were head of heels in love with you. NEWS FLASH, UCHIHA, NOT EVERYTHING'S THE DAMN SAME. START LOOKING AT ME—RIGHT NOW. THIS NARUTO!"

He's breathing hard and all Naruto can see is red. Sasuke's mouth hung slightly agape, hurt flashing in his eyes.  _Well fuck you, Sasuke, you brought this upon yourself._  Naruto got up from the blanket and stalked off. A huge wave of anger and guilt were rising up in his stomach and he planned to leave the guilt, not the anger, and Sasuke behind.

/

By the time Naruto finished angrily stomping he has zero idea of where he was. "Fucking lovely," he growled. It was cold and he could hear Christmas carolers singing in the distance. He only had a light jacket on him to help brave the cold. Definitely not his smartest move. Wait no. His dumbest move of the night was blowing up at Sasuke.

Naruto checked his phone and, oh hey, it was dead. Of course it was dead. Of course his phone had to be shit out of luck and dead. Naruto scowled, angrily jamming his phone back into his pocket. He plopped down onto the grass and rubbed a frustrated hand over his face. "Maybe I'm better off going back and apologizing," Naruto muttered. The guilt he had pushed out in his stormy rage was coming back full swing. And now he felt like a close-minded dumbass. Especially now, when he had felt Sasuke trying to talk to him through their bond but he just pushed him away, telling him to  _leave me alone._

Really, it wasn't Sasuke's fault for being so in love with him that he would do anything to keep them together. Honestly, such a gesture was kind of sweet. Naruto had never met a person who'd make deals with a god just for him. No, correction, Sasuke had done it for  _them._ To keep them together.

But Naruto's still not happy. Why? He felt like it was a constant comparison to new and old.  _At least he's trying,_ Naruto thought. But he would have felt better if Sasuke tried to love this version too, not just rely on what he knew from the others.

Naruto sighed, burying his head into his arms. The grass was wet and would, no doubt, leave stains on his jeans. He kept muttering about how a certain spikey haired bastard who needed to get their head out of their ass when he heard it. A faint hissing sound that steadily grew louder and louder until the ground started to shake underneath Naruto.

Then he heard the sound of jaws snapping. He whipped his head around and saw a monstrous beast that looked like an overgrown lizard come out of the darkness. And it was heading right for him.

"Oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me!" Naruto shot up and hauled major ass. He managed to dodge the beast just in time before it could tackle him, but the beast was fast. It's tail whipped out and connected right to his gut, sending him into the bushes.

"Ow, ow, fuck…" Naruto groaned, slightly disoriented. He felt twigs poking into his spine. The beast snarled, already charging towards him for his next attack. When you have a giant lizard beast charging at you it really shakes off the stupefaction.

Naruto bolted from the bushes, running as fast as he could with a lizard beast at the heels. He looked over his shoulder and, for a second, didn't see the beast. Then he tripped and fell flat on his face, tumbling until he rolled over onto his back. He moaned in pain and suddenly, there was a heavy weight on him.

The beast had landed on top of him, jaw snapping and beady, golden eyes trained right on him. Naruto did his best to fight it off. Kicking and punching, but it felt like hitting a steel wall. He cursed, trying to push the beast off as best as he could.

"Dude! Your breath… fucking stinks!" Naruto managed to growl out as he kicked at the beast again.

Suddenly he saw gold and heard the firing of a gun. Three, golden bullets whizzed by and lodged itself into the beast's stomach. The beast howled, rolling off of Naruto and twitching with pain before it burst into ash and finally, into nothingness.

For a second, Naruto's scared out of his mind. Where the hell had  _those_ come from? And then he heard the sound of boots crunching along the grass and for a second he thought,  _Well shit. I'm gonna die. Hello ashy grave._ But when he looked up he was surprised to find… an older-looking version of Sasuke peering down at him.

Well then. That's new.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. The monster sort of gave me the slip."

Yeah no kidding. Naruto could barely form sentences; he was still stunned that he narrowly escaped being eaten alive. Also seeing an older looking Sasuke was enough to throw anyone back a couple of paces. He vaguely wondered if time travel was at work too, until he heard Sasuke shouting his name behind him.

And suddenly he's there. By Naruto's side, cupping his face and not even trying to hide the worry in his eyes.

"Naruto, I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner. Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah," Naruto muttered but he was far from it. Sasuke pulled him into his arms and Naruto melted into the place where he belonged.

Then Sasuke whirled around and said, "Itachi, what the hell are you doing here?"

Itachi completely ignored him in favor of talking to Naruto. "First date with my little brother and you're getting attacked? Pity. I told Sasuke putting you in near death situations is not the best way to win your heart."

"Little brother?" Naruto said at the same time Sasuke snarled, "Stuff it!"

"Oh? Sasuke didn't tell you about me?" Itachi feigned disappointment. "Not surprising. He has a severe older brother complex. Something he likes to keep on the… how do people say it nowadays? The down low?" Apparently Itachi got a kick out of making Sasuke flustered. Naruto figured anyone who enjoyed making Sasuke fume was an okay guy in his books.

Sasuke started shooting off questions rapid fire at his brother. Some of the questions were in English and, surprisingly, some in Greek. Naruto was still trying to get his brain caught up to speed while watching the brothers go at it.

"I'm here on a quest," was Itachi's answer.

"By father?"

"No, actually. From Athena. Said she had some snake problems that I need to tend to else she'll conveniently remember why she banned me from Pompeii in the first place."

 _Athena?_ As in, Athena the goddess of wisdom and battle? Okay, Naruto definitely shouldn't even be surprised anymore with all the weird stuff suddenly being thrust upon his life.

"Naruto, you sure you're alright?" Sasuke whispered as he helped Naruto to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Or he would be. Sasuke kept his arm around Naruto and Naruto let him.

"Things are getting a little hectic in Olympus," Itachi went on to say. "Hermes has been spreading the news around of rumors that another war might be sparking up."

Sasuke instantly tensed. Naruto could feel his worry and paranoia. He rubbed a soothing circle on Sasuke's back; instinctively knowing that was the best spot to rub when Sasuke needed to cool down. It worked. Sasuke immediately uncoiled and glanced at Naruto with a wry smile.

Naruto, himself, got a little weirded out at the mention of war. He saw burning cities and dead soldiers and golden eyes. It was all a little nerve wracking. Okay, not little. A lot.

"Do I—"

"—No word from father yet. Though I'll let you know if anything changes," Itachi immediately cut Sasuke off. He leveled a gaze on his little brother that clearly spoke how they'd have that conversation later. The gaze dropped, and in its place came a rather charming smile directed Naruto's way. "We'll, I'll leave you two to your date. Sasuke, bring Naruto over soon so I can properly introduce myself to him in a way that  _doesn't_ involve him almost dying."

"Maybe," Sasuke snorted.

Itachi simply continued to smile and then poof, he was gone. Just like that. Gone.

"I think… I think I need to sit down." Naruto slumped against Sasuke's chest. He was so, so done with everything.

/

Sasuke and Naruto were driving back home. It was a somber drive thanks to recent events.

Naruto has the urge to randomly play through radio stations to drown out the silence but then Sasuke spoke. A quiet couple of words that Naruto had to strain to hear.

"I'm sorry for… the date." Sasuke swallowed, grip on the steering wheel tightening.

Naruto sighed. Good God it wasn't fair how easily Sasuke could switch from arrogantly charming to beautifully broken. "Nah it's fine. I was being an ass." Naruto shrugged. "It happens."

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak but Naruto cut him off again.

"Look, Sasuke, I get it okay? You're in love with me. Have been for centuries, and this is your last shot to keep me around. I  _get it._ I just…" Naruto sighed once more, glancing out the window a bit at the passing lights before turning his attention back to Sasuke. "I want to feel like you're in love with me for  _me._ The current me who doesn't like gardening but yes, still enjoys a mean bowl of pasta."

"I knew it!"

"The point  _is_ ," Naruto stressed, cutting a glare Sasuke's way. The damn bastard didn't even bother to look sheepish. "I'm overwhelmed. My life's apparently in constant danger now and I'm told you're my soul mate and it's like, I have to live up to all the mes before me and it's… it's a lot."

A pause sits between them. Naruto fidgeted in his seat about several times before Sasuke broke the silence.

"I know it seems like I'm caught up in the past, Naruto, but I love you—the you sitting here with me now and the you I met for the very first time all those years ago, tending flowers in Athens. Maybe I'm a little… desperate to make things right."

Naruto snorted. "You think?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Don't push it."

"Well…good." Naruto nodded. "Good."

They fell into silence once more.

"I'll protect you," Sasuke whispered.

"I know. I don't want you to."

A pause and Naruto could just  _feel_ the hurt radiating off of Sasuke. He felt the need to explain himself.

"Because I want to be able to fight for myself," he continued. "I'm not a damsel in distress and frankly I'm getting pissed at the guy sending all these snake creatures at me. So, for our next date, we're totally sparring—or whatever the hell you demigods do. And don't you dare try to give me an excuse, Sasuke, because I'm a stubborn motherfucker who doesn't take no for an answer."

Sasuke blinked, momentarily stunned. His face smoothed into a wry smile. "I wasn't going to give you an excuse. I was going to comment on how you're giving me a second chance."

"Well… yeah." Naruto's cheeks started to burn. "I-I mean, I told you yesterday. I'm going to try to make things work. You just gotta stay in the present, and I'll tell you what I like and don't like, okay?"

"Okay." Sasuke gave Naruto the tiniest little smile and it did something to his heart that he didn't want to acknowledge.

"Great. Cool. Now shut up and let me blare some Childish Gambino."


End file.
